Past event
Date: Thursday, June 7, 2018 6 PM
Speaker: Adam Becker, UC Berkeley
Title: The Trouble with Quantum Physics, and Why it Matters
Abstract: Quantum physics is arguably the most successful scientific theory ever devised. It explains an enormous variety of natural phenomena to an extraordinary degree of accuracy — everything from semiconductors to the Sun itself. Yet there is a problem: it's unclear what this immensely fruitful theory says about reality. What is going on in the world of quantum physics? Why does "measurement" play a special role in the theory? Is it really impossible to talk about what's happening to atoms and subatomic particles when we're not looking at them? For many years, the standard answer to questions like this was to "shut up and calculate," to ignore these issues and simply use quantum physics to predict the outcomes of experiments. There was also a historical myth that went along with this answer, a myth that said Einstein had once worried about these questions, but he was shown the error of his ways by the great Danish physicist Niels Bohr. Yet that myth is simply untrue, and these thorny quantum paradoxes are far more important than most physicists once believed. In this talk, I'll explain the puzzles at the heart of quantum physics, why they matter, and what really went down between Einstein and Bohr 90 years ago.
Location University of San Francisco; Fromm Hall, Maier Room (details to follow)
Past event
Thursday Jan 25, 2018 6-8pm
SFSU, usual location: room HUM 587
Prof. Vadim Keyser, CSU Fresno
"Experimental Effects and Causal Representation"
ABSTRACT
In experimental settings, scientists often "make" new things, in which case the aim is to intervene in order to produce experimental objects and processes—characterized as 'effects'. In this discussion, I illuminate an important performative function in measurement and experimentation in general: intervention-based experimental production (IEP). I argue that even though the goal of IEP is the production of new effects, it can be informative for causal details in scientific representations. Specifically, IEP can be informative about causal relations in: regularities under study; 'intervention systems', which are measurement/experimental systems; and new technological systems.
past FEBRUARY AT UC DAVIS
There will be a BAPS event in February, a joint colloquium with the UC Davis Philosophy Department:
Speaker: Nancy Cartwright (UCSD/University of Durham)
Title: "Is the cat really lapping up the milk?"
Date: Friday Feb. 9; 3:10 - 6:00 pm
Link for location and further information:
http://philosophy.ucdavis.edu/events/colloquium-nancy-cartwright-ucsd-university-of-durham
past APRIL
The International Conference on Quanta and Mind (ICQM2018) will be held at the Events Room at the J. Paul Leonard Library (LIB 121), San Francisco State University, from April 10th to 11th, 2018.
See website for details:
https://sites.google.com/site/icqmm20/
Past Event:
Friday 9/29/2017, 6-8pm, at SFSU, room HUM 587 on the 5th floor of the Humanities building.
Speaker: Judith Degen, Stanford University
Title: Overinformativeness? Rationally redundant reference
Past Event:
Thursday, March 9 6:00-8:00 pm
San Francisco State University
Room: HUM 587
Philip Kitcher, Columbia University "Six Problems of Climate Change"
Past Event:
Date: Thursday 10/27/2016 5:00 PM University of San Francisco
Location: John Lo Schiavo Center for Science and Innovation
Room: Getty Lounge
Speaker: Paul Hoyningen-Huene (Hannover and Zurich)
Title: "Strong Incommensurability and Deeply Opaque Ignorance"
Past Event:
10th International Conference on Quantum Interaction (QI2016)
July 20th – July 22nd, 2016
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
http://www.quantuminteraction.org/conferences/qi2016
Past Event: The San Francisco State University Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce Unnatural Kinds, an interdisciplinary workshop on scientific classification. The workshop will feature speakers from eight disciplines across the sciences and humanities and from academia, government, and industry. The workshop will take place at SFSU on May 16-17. There is no fee to attend, but attendees should pre-register at https://unnaturalkinds.wordpress.com/
Past event April 22, 2016 Acacio de Barros, San Francisco State University
at SFSU
Past Event Wednesday March 30, 2016 Book symposium on David Stump's Conceptual Change and the Philosophy of Science at the Pacific Division meeting of the APA at the Westin Hotel. You are supposed to register to attend sessions and there is a significant discount for registering early. Many other talks through Sunday April 3, 2016
http://www.apaonline.org/events/event_details.asp?id=322905
Past Event Friday 3/11/2016 5:00 PM at USF
Speaker: Gerhard Heinzmann, Université de Lorraine and Archiv Henri Poincaré
Title: "Poincaré and the Analytic Tradition"
Past Event Oct. 30, 2015 Julia Bursten at UC Davis.
Past Event May 1, 2014 Rasmus Winther at SFSU
Past Event April 12-13, 2014 Conference at UCSC Genomics and the Philosophy of Race
Past event Philip Kitcher at USF March 18, 2014 6 PM
past BAPS event Thursday Dec. 5, 2013
Past BAPS event Friday Nov. 1, 2013
Past Stanford Conference Oct. 25-26, 2013
The "Stanford School" of Philosophy of Science
Past BAPS event Thursday Oct. 3, 2013
Past BAPS event 4/18/13
Past BAPS event 2/28/13