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March 29, 2012

Argument in Limbo (or, a note on the importance of feminism) – Nicholas McGinnis

It is not usually within the aegis of a philosophy blog to comment on controversies within popular media; but in certain particularly illustrative cases, exceptions can be made. Here we are once again concerned with public policy, expertise, and argument: … Continue reading

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March 13, 2012

"Science controversies past and present," in Physics Today

Steve Sherwood, of the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, provides a thoughtful, if schematic, discussion of historical scientific controversy, linking past polemics to present strife on climate change. Both Copernican heliocentrism … Continue reading

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March 13, 2012

Life and Non-Life – Alex Manafu

Historically, most philosophers and scientists have thought about the distinction between life and non-life as an abrupt one. For vitalists like Driesch life was an irreducible phenomenon, which depended on a new type of force, one of a non-physical nature … Continue reading

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March 7, 2012

Rotman Institute Lecture Series: Nancy Cartwright (streaming video)

Dr. Nancy Cartwright will be the third annual Lecturer in Philosophy & Science, giving two talks: one on Thursday, March 8th beginning at 5pm EST (“Evidence, Argument and Mixed Methods”), and another on Friday, March 9th at 3:30 pm EST … Continue reading

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March 6, 2012

New Hires: Rotman CRC, Assistant Professor

We are very pleased to announce that Dr. Stathis Psillos (University of Athens) has been nominated by Western as the Rotman Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in philosophy of science. His application will now go through the CRC peer review … Continue reading

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March 2, 2012

BBC, journal 'Nature' criticize "muzzling" of Canadian scientists

The CBC reports on Nature’s extraordinary editorial on the Harper government’s control over scientific dissemination, policy which is starting to make headlines internationally as well. The full text of the editorial in Nature can be found here. The criticism is … Continue reading

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