Reflectorites
The following was posted on another List with a request for it to be
circulated widely on the Internet.
Please circulate it (minus my name) to any other relevant forums you
are on.
Thanks.
Steve
==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE==================
Title: THE NATURE OF NATURE (current status 01.22.2000)
Subtitle: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Role of Naturalism in
Science
Date: April 12-15, 2000
Place: Baylor University
Web: http://www.baylor.edu/~polanyi/natconf.htm
OVERVIEW: Is the universe self-contained or does it require something beyond
itself to explain its existence and internal function? Philosophical
naturalism takes the universe to be self-contained, and it is widely
presupposed throughout science. Even so, the idea that nature points beyond
itself has recently been reformulated with respect to a number of issues.
Consciousness, the origin of life, the unreasonable effectiveness of
mathematics at modeling the physical world, and the fine-tuning of universal
constants are just a few of the problems that critics have claimed are
incapable of purely naturalistic explanation. Do such assertions constitute
arguments from incredulity -- an unwarranted appeal to ignorance? If not, is
the explanation of such phenomena beyond the pale of science? Is it,
perhaps, possible to offer cogent philosophical and even scientific
arguments that nature does point beyond itself? The aim of this conference
is to examine such questions.
CALL FOR PAPERS: Concurrent sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of
the conference are intended to give scholars an opportunity to present their
views on the topic of this conference. Please submit an abstract of the talk
you would like to give as well as a current CV and a paper representative of
your work in the area of naturalism (preferably the paper you would like to
present at the conference). Please send these three items to The Michael
Polanyi Center, Baylor University, P.O. Box 97130, Waco, TX 76798-7130,
Attn.: Conference Submission. These items must be received no later than
March 1st.
REGISTRATION: The conference registration fee is $95 for non-students, $55
for students if received before March 1st. Thereafter add another $10 to the
registration fee. Please make out a check or money order to Baylor
University and address it to The Michael Polanyi Center, Baylor University,
P.O. Box 97130, Waco, TX 76798-7130, Attn.: Conference Registration.
Information about travel, lodging, and meals will be made available on this
page shortly. Except for the banquet lecture Friday evening (4.14.2000),
Baylor students, faculty, and staff may attend the conference without
charge.
***WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2000***
Conferees arrive late afternoon. Buffet dinner served.
EVENING PLENARY 7:00-9:30pm: The Nature of Nature
Moderator: TBA
Michael Williams, Northwestern University (confirmed)
Michael Tooley, University of Colorado, Boulder (confirmed)
Robert Koons, University of Texas, Austin (confirmed)
***THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2000***
PLENARY SESSION 8:00-10:00am: Metaphysics: Are Evolution and Naturalism
Incompatible?
Moderator: Bruce Gordon, Baylor University (confirmed)
Alvin Plantinga, University of Notre Dame (confirmed)
William Talbott, University of Washington, Seattle (confirmed)
BREAK 10:00-10:30am
PLENARY SESSION 10:30am-12:30pm: Naturalism and the History of Science
Moderator: Stuart Rosenbaum, Baylor University (confirmed)
Everett Mendelsohn, Harvard University (confirmed)
Ronald Numbers, University of Wisconsin, Madison (confirmed)
LUNCH 12:30-1:30pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1:30-3:30pm
BREAK 3:30-4:00pm
PLENARY SESSION 4:00-6:00pm: Does Science Support Naturalism?
Moderator: Robert Koons, UT Austin (confirmed)
Henry F. Schaefer III, University of Georgia, Athens (confirmed)
Other speaker TBA
DINNER 6:00-7:30pm
***FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2000***
PLENARY SESSION 8:00-10:00am: Biological Complexity
Moderator: TBA
Michael Behe, Lehigh University (confirmed)
Other Speaker TBA
BREAK 10:00-10:30am
PLENARY SESSION 10:30am-12:30pm: The Origin of Biological Information
Moderator: TBA
Stephen Meyer, Whitworth College (confirmed)
Sahotra Sarkar, UT Austin (confirmed)
LUNCH 12:30-1:30pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1:30-3:30pm:
BREAK 3:30-4:00pm
PLENARY SESSION 4:00-6:00pm: Cosmology
Moderator: TBA
Howard Van Till, Calvin College (confirmed)
William Lane Craig, Biola University (confirmed)
Alan Guth, MIT, (confirmed)
CONFERENCE BANQUET & BANQUET LECTURE 6:30-9:00pm
Keynote Speaker TBA
***SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 2000***
PLENARY SESSION 8:00-10:00am: Naturalism and the Effectiveness of
Mathematics
Moderator: William Dembski, Baylor University (confirmed)
Edward Zalta, Stanford University (confirmed)
Geoffrey Hellman, University of Minnesota (confirmed)
BREAK 10:00-10:30am
PLENARY SESSION 10:30am-12:30pm: Naturalism and Ethics
Moderator: J. Budziszewski, UT Austin (confirmed)
Dallas Willard, USC (confirmed)
Simon Blackburn, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (confirmed)
LUNCH 12:30-1:30pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1:30-3:30pm:
BREAK 3:30-4:00pm
PLENARY SESSION 4:00-6:00pm: Neuroscience and Consciousness
Moderator: TBA
Nancey Murphy, Fuller Theological Seminary (confirmed)
John Searle, University of California, Berkeley (confirmed)
Howard Ducharme, University of Akron, Ohio (confirmed)
DINNER 6:00-7:30pm
End of Conference
===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE===================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 25 2000 - 19:06:28 EST