The Research Seminar Series in Philosophy invites you to a seminar with James Nguyen, Stockholm, who will speak on the topic of "Philosophical Modelling: Ising the Web of Belief".
Abstract
If we think about philosophy as a modelling enterprise, we can utilise insights and practices from model-based science (and the philosophy of model-based science) in philosophical contexts. Two upshots of this are discussed: we should adopt a pluralist outlook, i.e. embrace the fact that we model systems from a variety of complementary perspectives, and an opportunistic attitude to philosophical modelling, i.e. adopt the practice of taking a model developed in one domain and repurposing it for our own devices. I illustrate the value of this way of thinking in philosophy by repurposing the Ising model of ferromagnetism in order to illuminate the connection between the internal coherence requirements on beliefs, and their relationship to incoming evidence and noise. In doing so I offer a novel understanding of epistemic crises.
All are welcome to attend this seminar.
About the seminar series
This seminar is intended primarily for presentations of PhD work and other research in philosophy conducted at the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies. Guest lectures sometimes take place in the seminar as well. The seminars are given in English and all interested are welcome to attend these events.
