CFP: Biological Modality Workshop

Biological Modality Workshop

14-15 September 2026, University of Leeds

Organized by:

Margarida Hermida (University of Leeds)

Sponsored by:

Leverhulme Trust

Confirmed Speakers:

Carrie Figdor (University of Iowa)

Marcel Weber (University of Geneva)

Alastair Wilson (University of Leeds)

Rami Koskinen (University of Oslo)

Margarida Hermida (University of Leeds)

Description:

Evolution by natural selection can bring new kinds of systems into existence, with capacities never before instantiated. But it cannot ‘break the laws of physics’ – the biologically possible must be physically possible. This workshop will explore various themes within biological modality: what is biologically possible, and how does that relate to physical laws? Is biological possibility best understood as accessibility from a given location within a space of possibilities, such as Dennett’s ‘Library of Mendel’? Are there any biological laws that ground a specific kind of biological modality? What can astrobiology, the search for other instances of life in the universe, tell us about how life can be? And can synthetic biology be seen as the empirical study of what is biologically possible? How much of what we see around us in the living world is the result of evolutionary contingency, and how much is the way it is because it could not have been otherwise?

Call for papers:

We invite submissions on any topic related to biological modality broadly construed, including, but not limited to, the following:

- Biological (im)possibility

- Biological laws

- Chance and necessity in biology

- Dispositional properties of biological entities

- Evolutionary contingency and/or convergence

- Evolvability

- Physical laws in biological systems

- Synthetic biology and biological possibility

- Universal biology, astrobiology, and how life could be

Abstracts (max. 500 words not including references) should be prepared for blind review and sent as a pdf attachment to [email protected]. Authors should state their names and affiliations clearly in the email. Submissions from early career researchers (PhD students, postdocs, and philosophers not in permanent academic employment) are especially encouraged.

The deadline for submissions is 10 July 2026 at 11.59pm BST. Authors will be informed of a decision by 31 July 2026.