CFP: Naturalism and Normativity in the Social Sciences

Do the social sciences need methods that are radically discontinuous with those employed by the natural sciences? At least since the 19th century rise of hermeneutics, philosophers have argued that a discontinuity is inevitable on the grounds that the social world includes values, rules and norms. Arguably, normativity requires a kind of understanding that is categorically different from the kind pursued by natural science. This central issue in the philosophy of social science has been deeply transformed by new research in both philosophy and the sciences.  Recent philosophy has produced new ways to understand the relationship between facts and values and new ways to think about scientific knowledge.  In the sciences, research into the cognitive foundations of sociality has revolutionized several fields and suggested new ways to understand the relationship between action and rule. This conference will bring together researchers interested in the way in which these new developments can inform our understanding of naturalism and normativity in the social sciences.

The conference fee is EUR 50 and covers participation, refreshment, book of abstract & banquet.

Potential contributors are asked to submit a two page abstract; the deadline is February 15, 2012. Abstracts are to be submitted by e-mail, as PDF files, prepared for anonymous reviewing. (To prevent problems caused by e-mail failures, the receipt of every abstract will be confirmed within one week.) Notification of acceptance will be distributed by March 15, 2012. Contributed papers are scheduled for 40 minutes including discussion.

Please direct your abstracts to:
[email protected].

Contact:
Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts of University of Hradec Králové, Rokitanského 62, 500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech Repubpic, EU, e-mail: [email protected]

Follow the web page of the conference for up-to-date information: