l’Université de Namur
General Description:
Scientists often use concepts that are also used in non-scientific circles: “information,” “code,” “heritage,” “point of view”, ”healing”, ”new”… Those “boundary concepts” can teach us a lot about what constitutes the difference between scientific and other-than-scientific practices, be that pseudo-sciences, politics, art, legal reasonings… At UNamur, we study those boundary concepts in a variety of sciences such as physics, biology, medicine or the human sciences in order to situate those sciences in the society at large.
Potential directions in which the topic can be further explored:
Thesis topics should be coherent with the research interests of the permanent members of SPiN (see website). The final subject of the thesis should be discussed with the supervisor. SPiN (Science & Philosophy in Namur) is a research center that brings together philosophers and scientists to examine science in all its diversity, crossing epistemological, metaphysical, political and ethical approaches. Multi-disciplinary and open to major contemporary issues, SPiN explores the philosophical challenges of the various disciplines of the natural, social, human and formal sciences. Its work aims to better understand what the sciences are, how they work, how to distinguish them from what they are not, and what roles they play in our society.
Examples of potential thesis topics:
“Does genetics determine human behaviour?”
“Are chemical properties emergent properties?”
“Can we use the analogy argument in order to study plants?”
“Can science account for traditional medicines?”
“What is friendship for a sheep?”
Description of the different methods, theories, and practical tools students will (further) develop:
- Philosophy of science
- Epistemology
- Conceptual history
Core literature:
– Despret, Vinciane, What would Animals Say if We Asked Them the Right Questions?, University of Minnesota Press, 2016.
– Hacking, Ian, “Do we see through a microscope?”, Philosophical Quaterly, 62, 1981.
– Keller, Evelyn Fox, The Century of the Gene, Harvard University Press, 2002.
– Star, Susan Leigh, et James R. Griesemer. « Institutional Ecology, `Translations’ and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39 ». Social Studies of Science, 2016.
The introductory course:
Programme:
ESST students will take part in the research activities of SPiN (Sciences & Philosophy in Namur) research centre. In particular, they will attend:
- the SPiN seminars: weekly seminars where we discuss work in progress. Those seminars will provide the students with a good overview of current research in philosophy of sciences.
- Mini-conference meetings: the ESST students will present their work in mini-conferences where they could receive feedback from other students and researchers.
- Oral exam based on a reading assignment about epistemology and philosophy of sciences.
All compulsory activities for ESST students will be in English. Nevertheless, some optional extra-curricular activities could be in French.
In order to provide high quality supervision, no more than two or three students will be welcomed each year.
Staff members who will act as potential supervisors:
All these activities will be supervised by one of the permanent members of SPiN :
Olivier Sartenaer, philosophy of physics, science/pseudo-science, emergentism
Gaëlle Pontarotti, philosophy of biology, genetics, (non-)determinism
Juliette Ferry-Danini, philosophy of medicine, randomized controlled trials
Thibault De Meyer, philosophy of animal sciences, perspectivism, material settings
Contact person:
Thibault De Meyer, thibault.demeyer@unamur.be
Housing for exchange students:
