The Rise of Empiricism
6 - 7 September, 2010 Darlington Centre, Institute Building boardroom, University of Sydney Empiricism is often regarded as the characterising feature of modern scientific method, and, in those approaches to psychology and the social and economic sciences that seek to model themselves on successful scientific practice in the physical and life sciences, it often acts as a model of good practice. Yet what is advocated is a very simplified model in which a rarefied notion of method as value-free inquiry is presented as the essence of empiricism. The failings of such a conception have long been evident, but the motivations behind the various forms of empiricism have remained obscure. The conference will explore new avenues to the original form of empiricism and show how it was able to directly engage questions of value in a novel and revealing way, and how its connection with 'hard' sciences was not merely to provide a methodological gloss on these, but went to the core of what scientific explanation consisted in. Program Monday 6th September 8:45 Coffee and Tea 9:00 -10:10 Peter Anstey (Otago): "The Creation of the English Hippocrates" 10:10-10:25 Morning Tea 10:25 - 11:35 Ofer Gal (Sydney): "Two Bohemian Journeys" 11:35 - 12:45 Alberto Vanzo (Otago): "Immanuel Kant on Experiment" Lunch Break 2:30-3:40 Peter Kail (Oxford): "Humean Persons" 3:40 - 3:55 Afternoon Tea 3:55 - 5:05 Millicent Churcher (Sydney): "Deciphering the connection between Reason and Sentiment: The Role of Belief in Hume's Theory of Moral Judgement" Dinner at Thaitanic, 186 King St, Newtown, 7.00pm Tuesday 7th September 9:00-10:10 Dejan Simkovic (Sydney): "Role of the concept of 'relation' in III:i:1 of the Treatise: Hume's last stand against rationalists" 10:10-10:25 Morning Tea 10:25 - 11:35 Stephen Gaukroger (Sydney) "Hume's Naturalism: From Religion to Philosophy" 11:35- 12:45 Liam Semler (Sydney): "The Man:Beast Debate in Margaret Cavendish's Early Works (1649-56)" Lunch Break 2.30- 3:40 Anik Waldow (Sydney): Mind without Soul? Locke on the Conceivability of Thinking Matter 3.40 - 3.55 Afternoon Tea 3:55- 5:05 Charles Wolfe (Sydney): "From Locke to Materialism: Empiricism and the Stirrings of Ontology" Conference Dinner (reserved for those who booked in advance) at Café Sydney, Circular Quay Dr. Anik Waldow Lecturer Department of Philosophy, SOPHI University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia Telephone: +61 2 91141245 Fax: +61 2 9351 3918 Email: [email protected]
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