The philosophy of science unit at the University of Tartu, founded in 1992, owes much to Professor Rein Vihalemm (1938–2015). He established research in this disciplinary area and supervised many students who now work in the field. Internationally Vihalemm is known as a founder, and was known as an active member, of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (ISPC). He edited the volume Estonian Studies in Philosophy of Science in the renowned series Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (2001). Vihalemm participated in fifteen Congresses of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and many other conferences. From the 1990s onwards, he published numerous research articles in journals, handbooks and collections of papers by leading publishers such as Oxford University Press, Springer and others.

One of Vihalemm’s major theoretical achievements was the development of the concept of ϕ-science – the theoretical account of the physical sciences that enabled him to explain the differences between various research disciplines and characterise the nature of chemistry as partially a ϕ-science. The concept of ϕ-science captures constructive activities that scientists are engaged in. Vihalemm’s main contribution to the philosophy of science is the programme of practical realism that analyses these activities.

On the 9th of December 2018 Rein Vihalemm would have had his 80th birthday. To celebrate, we invite philosophers of science to a conference on Vihalemm's work in Tartu next summer, Aug 13-14, 2019.

Submission Guidelines

All papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference. Themes of the conference include (and are not limited to):

1. Realism and anti-realism about science: various kinds of realism and anti-realism, arguments, perspectives, functions.
2. The concept of ϕ-science and actual practices of the physical sciences
3. Dual nature of chemistry – chemistry as a physical science and chemistry as natural history.
4. Pluralism in the accounts of science and technology.
5. Practice-based accounts of science in the light of ideas from history of philosophy
6. History and philosophy of science: cooperating or competing disciplines?
7. Methods for the empirical study of scientific practices, relevance of empirical findings for philosophy of science.

Programme Committee

Ilkka Niiniluoto, Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Philosophy, University of Helsinki, Finland
Rom Harré, Linacre College, University of Oxford, UK
Rafaela Hillerbrand, Professor for philosophy of science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Kenneth R. Westphal Professor of Philosophy (Felsefe), Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Turkey
Kalevi Kull, Professor of biosemiotics, University of Tartu, Estonia
Lea Leppik, historian of science, board member of the Estonian Association of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Tartu, Estonia
Amirouche Moktefi, lecturer, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Joseph T. Rouse, Professor of Philosophy, Wesleyan University, CT, USA

Invited Speakers

• Hasok Chang, University of Cambridge, UK
• Olimpia Lombardi, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Peeter Müürsepp, Tallinn Uiversity of Technology, Estonia
• Sami Pihlström, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Eric Scerri, UCLA, USA
• Triin Vihalemm University of Tartu, Estonia

Venue

Department of Philosophy, University of Tartu, Estonia.

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to practicalrealism19@ut.ee

Sponsors

The event is supported by the the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (IUT20-5), by the European Union via European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies), PUT 732 and PRG 462 of the Estonian Research Council, and the Faculty of Humanities and Arts, University of Tartu.