Philosophy Speakers Program: Andrea Woody (Washington) “Re-Orienting Discussions of Scientific Explanation”

Philosophy of science offers a rich lineage of analysis concerning the nature of scientific explanation, but the vast majority of this work, aiming to provide an analysis of the relation that binds a given explanans to its corresponding explanandum, presumes the proper analytic focus rests at the level of individual explanations. There are, however, other questions we could ask about explanation in science, such as: What role(s) does explanatory discourse play in science? Shifting focus away from explanations, as achievements, toward explaining, as a coordinated activity of communities, what I label the functional perspective aims to reveal how the practice of explanatory discourse functions within scientific communities given their more comprehensive sets of practices. In this talk, I will outline the functional perspective, argue that taking the functional perspective can reveal important methodological roles for explanation in science, and consequently, that beginning with this question provides resources for developing more adequate responses to traditional concerns. In particular, through examples in chemistry, I will emphasize the normative status of explanations within scientific communities and discuss how such status underwrites a compelling rationale for explanatory power as a theoretical virtue. Andrea Woody (PhD Pittsburgh) is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is also adjunct faculty in Dance, History, and Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies. She currently serves as Associate Editor for Philosophy of Science and Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Foundations of Chemistry and the organizing committee for the Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP). Her current research in the philosophy of science involves (i) developing “the functional perspective” on scientific explanation, (ii) analyzing diagrammatic, graphical, and pictorial representations as part of a larger project examining how pragmatic techniques for manipulating scientific theory are developed and justified by scientific communities, and (iii) seeing how issues of explanation and representation are related to one another. These projects interface with traditional discussions concerning explanation, representation, reduction, theory change, and disciplinary formation. In aesthetics, her work focuses on the performing arts, considering issues related to the identity of performing artworks, the virtues of live performance, and the nature of site-specific artworks.

Location:

Social Sciences Building – Room 1253

More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/philosophy-speakers-program-andrea-woody-washington-re-orienting-discussions-scientific