The Aesthetic Aims of Science - The British Society of Aesthetics

A London Aesthetics Forum at the Institute of Philosophy
8 September 2014, Senate House, London (Room G34)

Registration is free but required.

The aim of science is a topic often broached amongst philosophers of science: it deeply informs their discussions of realism and antirealism, as well as much in the way of scientific methodology. Yet, these discussions almost always presuppose that science can have only one aim, and moreover that this aim is epistemic – whether it be truth, empirical adequacy or explanatory completeness. This symposium aims to open up this field in two different ways: first by looking beyond the purely epistemic, and in particular asking questions about the links between the epistemic and the aesthetic, and second by emphasizing the multiplicity and plurality of the aims of particular scientific activities, without attempting to subsume them all under a unique goal.

Programme:
1:45pm Welcome

Session I
Chair: Angela Breitenbach (Cambridge)
2:00-3:00pm Chiara Ambrosio (UCL) “Composite Photographs and the Quest For Generality”
3:00-4:00pm Mauricio Suárez (IP) “Aesthetic Goals in Model Building”

4:00-4:30pm Coffee Break

Session II
Chair: Stacie Friend (Birkbeck)
4:30-5:30pm John Kulvicki (Dartmouth) “Maps and Language: Finding our ways Through Data”
5:30-6:00pm Round Table Discussion

For more information, and to register, please go to: http://bit.ly/aimsofscience
If you have any questions, please direct them to the co-organiser, Mauricio Suárez (Institute of Philosophy), at msuarez@filos.ucm.es.

The workshop is made possible by generous support from the British Society of Aesthetics.