Professors Tim Dare (University of Auckland, New Zealand) and Justine Kingsbury (Waikato University, New Zealand) write:
“Philosophers are increasingly likely to appeal to scientific theories and scientific data in support of philosophical claims: one of the most exciting trends in recent philosophy has been this process of 'naturalisation'. This is surely a good thing, but we wonder whether there is something about the methodologies of science and philosophy which make philosophers especially prone to misuse science: to place undue weight on results a scientist would regard as marginal or unproven; to highlight favorable and ignore unfavorable data; to give illegitimate weight to the authority of science; to treat mere “resonances” between a scientific theory and a philosophical idea as though they amounted to scientific proof of the philosophical idea, and so on. We discuss examples of these vices (and would love to be given more!) in order to explore whether there is something intrinsic to scientific or philosophical inquiry which makes these vices particularly tempting to philosophers - if there is, then the vices we identify may pose a quite general challenge to the naturalisation of philosophy - and to recommend some steps to help philosophers avoid them.”
For the penultimate presentation in the W&L Geology Department Winter Seminar Series, Natalie Stier, a W&L geology major, will present a slightly expanded version of the talk that she gave at the SE-GSA meeting a few weeks ago in March. The talk will summarize her work this semester as part of an independent study (GEOL 403) into the compositional and textural characteristics of a diverse suite of xenoliths collected from three Quaternary basaltic flows in the Western Grand Canyon.
2010 Earle Bates Lecturer
The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus
April 2, 2010
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
Stackhouse Theater, Elrod Commons
Dr. Mitchell Thomashow, President of Unity College in Maine, is well-known nationally in environmental circles. He is a scholar and writer who is specifically interestd in developing reflective, interdicsiplinary pedagogy for undergraduate and graduate programs in Environmental Studies.
Dr. Thomashow will propose "Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus," designed to evoke a whole new twenty-first century catalogue of transformational sustainable practices for higher education that will help train a new generation of leaders.
This presentation will be of interest to faculty, staff and students as he discusses Infrastructure, Community and Learning.
Sponsored by the Program in Environmental Studies
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