[Sokrates] WG: Einstein Lectures 2022/23

["Sonja Langguth" <philos@zedat.fu-berlin.de>]

 

 

Von: Simon Godart <simon.godart@fu-berlin.de>
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. November 2022 15:17
An: Sonja Langguth <philos@zedat.fu-berlin.de>
Betreff: Einstein Lectures 2022/23

 

Dear colleagues, dear students,

 

we are happy to invite you to the first lecture within the Einstein lecture series of the Thematic Einstein Forum on Scales of Temporality: Modeling Time and Predictability in the Literary and in the Mathematical Sciences.

 

This lecture will take place on November 17, 2022, at 6 pm (at ZIB, Takustr. 7, 14195 Berlin and online).

 

It will be given by Professor Stephan Hartmann (LMU Munich, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy).

 

Title: Reasoning in Physics: The Bayesian Approach.

 

Abstract: In recent centuries, physics has greatly influenced the way philosophers have thought about the scientific method and the nature of good scientific reasoning. Generations of philosophers have aimed to taxonomize, formalize, and evaluate these patterns of argumentation. While this has been an extremely fruitful task, the major challenges facing physics today have led to fundamental changes in the way physicists formulate, evaluate, and apply their theories. The most prominent examples of this trend are found in the field of contemporary fundamental physics, where many of the most influential theories are beyond the reach of existing experimental methods and are therefore extremely difficult to test empirically. Now, the fact that entire communities of physicists have spent so much time and effort evaluating theories that are largely disconnected from experiment and empirical testing suggests that existing philosophical accounts of the epistemology of physics, based on a largely empiricist conception of physics, are no longer entirely accurate, or at least somewhat outdated. This, in turn, suggests that it is time to draw attention to and analyze the distinctive justificatory strategies of contemporary physics. In this talk, I will discuss these recent developments and show that the Bayesian framework is flexible enough to reconstruct and evaluate the proposed reasoning strategies. This points the way to a clarification of the epistemic structure of contemporary physics and, furthermore, shows how philosophers can constructively engage in methodological discussions within physics on an equal footing.

 

For more information on the Thematic Einstein Forum and the Einstein Lecture Series, please visit https://mathplus.de/topic-development-lab/tef-winter-2022-23/lecture-series/

 

 

We are looking forward to your participation: either in person or online. You will find further information on both ways of attendance online or after registration via scales@mathplus.de.

 

Best regards

TES Organization Team