CFP: What can we learn today from Einstein’s interface of physics and philosophy?
Submission deadline: June 15, 2018
Details
Five lectures by Thomas Ryckman, Stanford University
With a keynote lecture by Jeroen Van Dongen, University of Amsterdam
Tuebingen, August 6st - August 10th, 2018
Application deadline: June 15th, 2018
We kindly invite graduate students and junior scientists of philosophy, physics, and mathematics, to apply for the 5th Forum Scientiarum's International Interdisciplinary Summer School in the History and Philosophy of Science
The Summer School takes place in Tuebingen (Germany), a classical university town with a charming old town center, from Monday, August 6st to Friday, August 10th, 2018.
Topic
In the course of these lectures, we shall examine how Einstein, exploiting a methodology of adopting various principles (physical, formal, metaphysical) as postulates to further physical theory, became the first theorist to recognize the limitations of classical theory, produced both theories of relativity in addition to relativistic cosmology, and was led to an incisive, though ultimately failed, critique of quantum mechanics. In conclusion, we contrast the Einstein 'style' of physical theory and explanation with several widely adopted contemporary alternatives.
The Lecturer
Thomas Ryckman is Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University. He is the author of The Reign of Relativity: Philosophy in Physics 1915-1925(2005) and of the recent Einstein (2017) for the series The Routledge Philosophers
The Keynote Speaker
Jerone Van Dongen is Professor of History of Science, with a special focus on Physics, at the University of Amsterdam. He authored the book Einstein's Unification (2010)