Center Discussion Group

Heller Hall windows from outside detail

Meeting time: Friday afternoons (about every other week - see the calendar below), 1:30–3:00 pm Central time
Meeting place: Hybrid format. 737 Heller Hall and online via Zoom

The Center discussion group (CtrDG) reads and discusses works of mutual interest in the philosophy of science, broadly construed. We have a tradition of reading works of important authors and then having them visit to discuss their work with the group. CtrDG visitors have included Nancy Cartwright, John Dupré, Margaret Morrison, Bas van Fraassen, William C. Wimsatt, and James Woodward, each of whose work we read during a semester preceding their separate visits.

Colleagues from area schools and fields outside philosophy regularly participate in our discussions. We continue to seek new participants. All faculty from the University of Minnesota and area colleges and universities are welcome to attend whenever they would like (and without invitation). Postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. students are also welcome to attend. For further information, contact Alan Love (aclove@umn.edu).

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Spring 2024

This semester the Center Discussion Group will be reading Perspectival Realism. 2022. by Michela Massimi, New York: Oxford University Press.
The book is open access and available for download from the Oxford University Press website 

January 26: Ch. 1: The short tale of a long journey (pp. 3-30) and Ch. 2: The perspective nature of scientific representation (pp. 31-48)

February 9: Ch. 3: Pluralism and perspectivism (pp. 49-72) and Ch. 4: Perspectival modelling as modelling possibilities (pp. 73-83)

February 23: Ch. 5: Inferential blueprints and windows on reality (pp. 141-180)

March 8: No Meeting - Spring Break

March 15: Ch. 6: From data to phenomena (pp. 183-218)

March 22: Ch. 7: Natural kinds with a human face (pp. 219-248)

April 12: Ch. 8: The inferentialist view of natural kinds (pp. 249-272)
Michela Massimi (University of Edinburgh) will be visiting for the Giere lecture

April 26: Ch. 11: Multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism in science (pp. 332-368)

Fall 2023

This semester the group will be reading:
Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.
The book is available electronically from the University of Minnesota libraries

September 8: Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. 
Ch. 1: “Ersatz Rigor” (pp. 1-10), Ch. 2: “Prospectus” (pp. 11-29). 

September 22: Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. 
Ch. 3: “Inductive Warrant” (pp. 30-54)
Optional: “Appendix: Historical Complexities” (pp. 54-67)

October 6: Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ch. 4: “The Mystery of Physics 101” (pp. 68-82)
Optional: “Appendix: Hertz’s Critique of the Third Law” (pp. 82-87)

October 20: Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ch. 5: “Multiscalar Architectures” (pp. 88-114)
Optional: “Appendix: Further Comments on Homogenization” (pp. 114-116)

November 3: Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. 
Ch. 6: “Diversity in “Cause”” (pp. 117-145)

November 10: Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. 
Ch. 7: “Dreams of a Final Theory T” (pp. 146-157)
Eran Tal, Philosophy, McGill University will be visiting

November 24: No meeting Thanksgiving break

December 8: Wilson, M. 2022. Imitation of Rigor: An Alternative History of Analytic Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. 
Ch. 8: “Linguistic Scaffolding and Scientific Realism” (pp. 158-190)
Ch. 9: “Truth in a Multiscalar Landscale” (pp. 191-200)
 

Previous Center Discussion Group topics