Franz Huber (Toronto) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (7 May, 2014) titled "On the Justification of Deduction and Induction". Abstract: In this talk I will first present my preferred variant of Hume (1739; 1748)'s argument for the thesis that we cannot justify the principle of induction. Then I will criticize the responses the resulting problem of induction has received by Carnap (1963; 1968) and by Goodman (1954), as well as briefly praise Reichenbach (1938; 1940)'s approach. Some of...

Simon Huttegger (UC Irvine) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (22 May, 2014) titled "An Analogical Inductive Logic for Partially Exchangeable Families of Attributes". Abstract: Since Carnap started his epic program of developing an inductive logic, there have been various attempts to include analogical reasoning into systems of inductive logic. I will present a new system based on de Finetti's concept of partial exchangeability. Together with a set of plausible axioms, partial...

Gábor Hofer-Szabó (Budapest) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (9 April, 2014) titled "On Bell's local causality in local classical and quantum theory". Abstract: This paper aims to give a clear-cut definition of Bell's notion of local causality. Having provided a framework, called local physical theory, which integrates probabilistic and spatiotemporal concepts, we formulate the notion of local causality and relate it to other locality and causality concepts. Then we compare Bell's local...

Gereon Wolters (Konstanz) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (22 October, 2014) titled "The Completion of Logical Empiricism: Hempel's Pragmatic Turn". Abstract: For most of his life Carl Gustav Hempel (1905-1997) subscribed to the Carnapian variant of logical empiricism. According to Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970) philosophy of science is "rational reconstruction" (syntactically and/or semantically) of basic methodological concepts like probability, explanation, confirmation, and so on....

Catherine Stinson (Ryerson University) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (21 May, 2014) titled "Computational Model as Generic Mechanisms". Abstract: The role of computational models in science is a bit of a puzzle. They seem to be very unlike experiments in terms of their access to empirical facts about their target systems, yet scientists make liberal use of computational models to experiment and make discoveries. I connect this problem to one concerning mechanistic explanation. There a...

Gregor Schiemann (Wuppertal) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (28 May, 2014) titled "Persistence of the lifeworld? On the relation of lifeworld and science". Abstract: In contrast to the concept of science, the concept of the lifeworld describes an experience, which is characterised by familiar social relations, actions that are performed as a matter of course, and a lack of professionalism. Divergent relations between science and the life-world are possible, as I will demonstrate in the...

Isabelle Drouet (Paris-Sorbonne) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (4 June, 2014) titled "Agent-based simulations in empirical sociological Research". Abstract: Agent-based models and simulations are more and more widely used in the empirical sciences. In sociology, they have been put at the core of a research project: analytical sociology, as theorized and practiced in, e.g., Hedström’s Dissecting the social (2005). Analytical sociologists conceive of ABMs as tools for causal analysis....

Radin Dardashti (MCMP/LMU) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (2 July, 2014) titled "On the Distinction between Internal and External Symmetries". Abstract: There is no doubt that symmetries play an important role in fundamental physics, but there is no agreement among physicists on what this role exactly is. So it is not surprising that it has caught the interest of philosophers in recent years leading to a lively discussion on the epistemological and ontological significance of symmetries....

Mathias Frisch (Maryland) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (26 June, 2014) titled "Model Tuning and Predictivism". Abstract: Many climate scientists maintain that evidence used in tuning or calibrating a climate model cannot be used to evaluate the model. By contrast, the philosophers Katie Steele and Charlotte Werndl have argued, appealing to Bayesian confirmation theory, that tuning is simply an instance of hypothesis testing. In this paper I argue against both views and for a weak...

Martin Peterson (Eindhoven) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (18 June, 2014) titled "Rational Routines". Abstract: Recent research in evolutionary economics suggests that firms and other organizations are governed by routines. What distinguishes successful firms and organizations from less successful ones is that the former are better at developing, using and modifying routines that fit with the circumstances faced by the organization. Individual agents also rely on routines: many...

Mauricio Suarez (London, Madrid) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (12 November, 2014) titled "Propensities, Chance Distributions, and Experimental Statistics". Abstract: Probabilistic or statistical modelling may be described as the attempt to characterise (finite) experimental data in terms of models formally involving probabilities. I argue that a coherent understanding of much of the practice of probabilistic modelling calls for a distinction between three notions that are often...

Workshop on Causal and Probabilistic Reasoning, Wolfgang Spohn (Konstanz) gives a talk at the Workshop on Causal and Probabilistic Reasoning (18-20 June, 2015) titled "Fifteen Dimensions of Evaluating Theories of Causation. A Case Study of the Structural Model and the Ranking Theoretic Approach to Causation". Abstract: The point of the talk is not to defend any exciting thesis. It is rather to remind you of all the dimensions theories of causation must take account of. It explains 15 such...

Wolfgang Spohn (Konstanz) gives a talk at the Workshop on Causal and Probabilistic Reasoning (18-20 June, 2015) titled "Fifteen Dimensions of Evaluating Theories of Causation. A Case Study of the Structural Model and the Ranking Theoretic Approach to Causation". Abstract: The point of the talk is not to defend any exciting thesis. It is rather to remind you of all the dimensions theories of causation must take account of. It explains 15 such dimensions, not just in the abstract, but as...

Colloquium Mathematical Philosophy, David Ludwig (VU University Amsterdam) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (17 June, 2015) titled "Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge. A Model of Knowledge Integration and its Limitations". Abstract: Philosophical debates about indigenous knowledge often focus on the issue of relativism: given a diversity of local knowledge systems, how can certain types of (e.g. scientific or metaphysical) knowledge claim to transcend their historical and cultural...

David Ludwig (VU University Amsterdam) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (17 June, 2015) titled "Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge. A Model of Knowledge Integration and its Limitations". Abstract: Philosophical debates about indigenous knowledge often focus on the issue of relativism: given a diversity of local knowledge systems, how can certain types of (e.g. scientific or metaphysical) knowledge claim to transcend their historical and cultural contexts? In contrast with philosophical...

Workshop on Causal and Probabilistic Reasoning, Ralph Hertwig (Max Planck Institute for Human Development) gives a talk at the Workshop on Causal and Probabilistic Reasoning (18-20 June, 2015) titled "Navigating the Twilight of Uncertainty: Decisions from Experience". Abstract: In many of our decisions we cannot consult explicit statistics telling us about the relative risks involved in our actions. In lieu of explicit statistics, we can search either externally or internally for information,...

Ralph Hertwig (Max Planck Institute for Human Development) gives a talk at the Workshop on Causal and Probabilistic Reasoning (18-20 June, 2015) titled "Navigating the Twilight of Uncertainty: Decisions from Experience". Abstract: In many of our decisions we cannot consult explicit statistics telling us about the relative risks involved in our actions. In lieu of explicit statistics, we can search either externally or internally for information, thus making decisions from experience (as...

Colloquium Mathematical Philosophy, Dirk Kindermann (Graz) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (25 June, 2015) titled "Context, Conversation, and Fragmentation". Abstract: What is a conversational context?One inuential account (Lewis, Stalnaker, Roberts) says that it is a shared body of information | the information conveyed and/or presupposed by all interlocutors. Conversation, on this account, proceeds by variously influencing, and being influenced, by this body of information. In this...

Dirk Kindermann (Graz) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (25 June, 2015) titled "Context, Conversation, and Fragmentation". Abstract: What is a conversational context?One inuential account (Lewis, Stalnaker, Roberts) says that it is a shared body of information | the information conveyed and/or presupposed by all interlocutors. Conversation, on this account, proceeds by variously influencing, and being influenced, by this body of information. In this talk, I argue that standard idealising...

Colloquium Mathematical Philosophy, R. A. Rynasiewicz (Johns Hopkins University) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (10 June, 2015) titled "On the Role of the Light Postulate in Relativity". Abstract: As presented by Einstein in 1905, the theory of special relativity follows from two postulates: first, what he called the principle of relativity, and second, an empirical fact about the relation of the propagation of light relative to its source that has come to be called the light postulate....

R. A. Rynasiewicz (Johns Hopkins University) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (10 June, 2015) titled "On the Role of the Light Postulate in Relativity". Abstract: As presented by Einstein in 1905, the theory of special relativity follows from two postulates: first, what he called the principle of relativity, and second, an empirical fact about the relation of the propagation of light relative to its source that has come to be called the light postulate. In 1910 Waldemar von Ignatowsky...

Colloquium Mathematical Philosophy, Peter Pickl (LMU) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (10 June, 2015) titled "Explaining Macroscopic Systems from Microscopic Principles". Abstract: The revolutionary idea of the late 19th century that the physics of gases can be explained by the dynamics of small, point-like particles had a great influence on physics as well as mathematics and philosophy. This idea has changed our understanding of the physics of macroscopic systems significantly as well as...

Peter Pickl (LMU) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (10 June, 2015) titled "Explaining Macroscopic Systems from Microscopic Principles". Abstract: The revolutionary idea of the late 19th century that the physics of gases can be explained by the dynamics of small, point-like particles had a great influence on physics as well as mathematics and philosophy. This idea has changed our understanding of the physics of macroscopic systems significantly as well as the way we see our universe as a...

Colloquium Mathematical Philosophy, Berna Kilinç (Boğaziçi University) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (3 June, 2015) titled "Convergence of Iterated Belief Updates". Abstract: One desideratum on belief upgrade operations is that their iteration is truth-tropic, either on finite or infinite streams of reliable information. Under special circumstances repeated Bayesian updating satisfies this desideratum as shown for instance by the Gaifman and Snir theorem. There are a few analogous...

Berna Kilinç (Boğaziçi University) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (3 June, 2015) titled "Convergence of Iterated Belief Updates". Abstract: One desideratum on belief upgrade operations is that their iteration is truth-tropic, either on finite or infinite streams of reliable information. Under special circumstances repeated Bayesian updating satisfies this desideratum as shown for instance by the Gaifman and Snir theorem. There are a few analogous results in recent research within...