| 02/05/2024: TALK | Elliott Sober: Ockham’s Razor – When Is the Simpler Theory Better? |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date & Time: 2 May 2024, 17:30 CET Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Elliott Sober (University of Wisconsin–Madison) Abstract: Ockham’s razor, the principle of parsimony, says that a theory that postulates fewer entities, causes, or processes is “better” than a theory that postulates more, so long as the simpler theory is compatible with what we observe. But what does “better” mean? It is obvious that simpler theories are easier to understand and remember. The hard problem is to say why the fact that one theory is simpler than another is relevant to deciding what the world is like. In this lecture I’ll describe two “parsimony paradigms” within which this hard problem can be solved. The first involves likelihoods; the second involves ideas from model selection in statistics. |
| 15/04/2024: Conference | Probabilistic Reasoning in the Sciences |
| Date & Time: 29- 31 August 2024 Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Keynote Speakers: – Leah Henderson, University of Groningen – Saana Jukola, University of Twente – David Papineau, King’s College London – Jan-Willem Romeijn, University of Groningen – Elliott Sober, University of Wisconsin – Katja Tentori, University of Trento We are delighted to announce the upcoming Conference on Probabilistic Reasoning in the Sciences, to be held at the Marche Polytechnic University (Ancona, Italy) from August 29th to 31st, 2024. The conference aims to explore and discuss various aspects of probabilistic reasoning within scientific inquiry and will serve as the kick-off event for the “Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences” project, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research (Principal Investigators: Alexander Gebharter and Lorenzo Rossi), as well as the new Center for Philosophy, Science, and Policy (CPSP) at the Marche Polytechnic University. For more information and the call for papers see the conference webpage: https://cpsp.univpm.it/news-events/conference/ |
| 21/03/2024: TALK | Konstantin Genin: From the Fair Distribution of Predictions to the Fair Distribution of Social Goods: Evaluating the Impact of Fair Machine Learning on Long-Term Unemployment |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date & Time: 21 February 2024, 12:30 CET Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Konstantin Genin (University of Tübingen) Abstract: Algorithmic fairness focuses on the distribution of predictions at the time of training, rather than the distribution of social goods that arises after deploying the algorithm in a concrete social context. However, requiring a ‘fair’ distribution of predictions may undermine efforts at establishing a fair distribution of social goods. Our first contribution is conceptual: we argue that addressing the fundamental questions that motivates algorithmic fairness requires a notion of prospective fairness that anticipates the change in the distribution of social goods after deployment. Our second contribution is theoretical: we provide conditions under which this change is identified from pre-deployment data. That requires distinguishing between, and accounting for, different kinds of performative effects. In particular, we focus on the way predictions change policy decisions and, therefore, the distribution of social goods. Throughout, we are guided by an application from public administration: the use of algorithms to (1) predict who among the recently unemployed will remain unemployed in the long term and (2) target them with labor market programs. Our final contribution is empirical: using administrative data from the Swiss public employment service, we simulate how such policies would affect gender inequalities in long-term unemployment. When risk predictions are required to be ‘fair’, targeting decisions are less effective, undermining efforts to lower overall levels of long-term unemployment and to close the gender gap in long-term unemployment. |
| 01/03/2024 |
| We are happy and proud to announce that Michał Sikorski is joining our team today. Michał will work as a postdoc in the PRIN PNRR project Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences. He completed his PhD as a member of Jan Sprenger’s ERC-funded project Making Scientific Inferences More Objective. Michał works on causation, conditionals, forensic science, and other topics from philosophy of science. For details, see our members site or the project webpage. |
| 20/12/2023: Call for Application | 1 Researcher Position, Ancona |
| The Center for Philosophy, Science, and Policy at the Marche Polytechnic University (https://cpsp.univpm.it) is looking for candidates for a full (100%) researcher position (assegno di ricerca) within the PRIN PNRR project Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences, coordinated by Alexander Gebharter (Ancona) and Lorenzo Rossi (Turin). The contract will be for 2 years and begins on March 1, 2024. Candidates Candidates should possess a PhD in philosophy, logic, mathematics, statistics, informatics, the health sciences (esp. medicine, pharmacology, public health), or any other discipline in the vicinity of the project’s research foci (for details see below). They will have experience as postdoctoral researchers and possess an excellent research profile documented by top-level publications in their respective fields at an international level. We are especially interested in candidates that have a formal background. The working language is English. The Project The positions will be part of the PRIN PNRR project Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences. The project is a cooperation between research teams from the Marche Polytechnic University at Ancona (Andrea Carsetti, Aldo Dragoni, Alexander Gebharter, Barbara Osimani) and the University of Turin (Vincenzo Crupi, Andrea Iacona, Lorenzo Rossi). It will last for 2 years. The project aims at systematically exploring the infrastructure of different types of uncertain inferences in the health sciences. It aims at utilizing a diverse set of formal tools in order to model these types of inferences and at applying these models to concrete cases. It develops a principled way to minimize or utilize uncertainty and provides a rigorous method to reduce the risks in developing health policies based on data and results that are usually connotated by severe epistemic uncertainty or ambiguity. Research environment The successful candidate will join the team based in Ancona. They will have the opportunity to visit the unit in Turin for several months. Both interdisciplinary research centers consist of local and external members from many different backgrounds such as Philosophy, Medicine, Economics, Statistics, Informatics (with focus on ML and AI). There are plenty of research activities such as regular talks given by leading experts in their fields, reading groups, and workshops. Application Candidates need to submit their application on the following website before 13:00 on January 8, 2024 (Rome time): https://www.univpm.it/Entra/Ateneo/Bandi_concorsi_e_gare/Assegni_di_ricerca_1/Assegni_di_ricerca_in_scadenza_-_elenco_canale/Assegni_medicina_dicembre_2023 Select “DISBSP – SETTORI S.S.D.D. M-FIL/02 (LOGICA E FILOSOFIA DELLA SCIENZA)” from the drop down menu and click “Per candidarsi alla selezione clicca qui” afterwards. Then follow the instructions which will guide you through the submission process (in Italian). The following documents are required: – signed application letter – signed curriculum vitae – signed list of documents and publication – documents and publications numbered and ordered according to the list – identification document (front and back) – self declaration (A) that all information and documents provided are truthful Publications can be in Italian, English, French, German, or Spain. All other documents need to be in English or Italian. In case some of these are not available in English or Italian, the original can be submitted together with a translation into English or Italian supplemented by a self declaration (B) saying that the translation is truthful. For formal reasons the application letter and the templates (A) and (B) need to follow a specific style. Templates will be made available for downloaded in due course here: https://cpsp.univpm.it/research/projects/cuuhs/application-documents/ Candidates selected for the final interview will be notified in early January. Interviews will be held via MS Teams on January 18. Interested candidates are encouraged to contact the project’s principal investigator Alexander Gebharter (a.gebharter@univpm.it) for questions about the announced position or for help with the submission procedure. |
| 07/12/2023: Workshop | Probabilistic Reasoning in the Health Sciences |
| Date & Time: 13 December 2023, 14:00 CET Location: Sala Mascagni, Hotel Quirinale, Rome, Italy Organization: Center for Philosophy, Science, and Policy Speakers: Aldo Dragoni (UNIVPM) Alexander Gebharter (UNIVPM) Giampietro Gobo (Università degli Studi di Milano) Barbara Osimani (UNIVPM) Laura Teodori (ENEA) |
| 23/10/2023: Workshop | Probabilistic Reasoning in the Sciences |
| Date & Time: 6 November 2023, 14:30 CET Location: Room 155/10, Polo Monte Dago, Faculty of Engineering, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Organization: Center for Philosophy, Science, and Policy Speakers: Vincenzo Crupi (University of Turin) Aldo Dragoni (UNIVPM) Alexander Gebharter (UNIVPM) Barbara Osimani (UNIVPM) |
| 04/10/2023: Pre-Call for Application | 2 researcher positions within the PRIN project Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences, Ancona and Turin |
| The Center for Philosophy, Science, and Policy at the Marche Polytechnic University (https://cpsp.univpm.it) and the Center for Logic, Language, and Cognition at the University of Turin (https://www.llc.unito.it) are looking for candidates for two full (100%) researcher positions (assegni di ricerca) within the PRIN project Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences, coordinated by Dr. Alexander Gebharter (UniVPM) and Dr. Lorenzo Rossi (Unito). The contracts will be for 2 years and are intended to begin at the earliest possible date. Candidates Candidates have to possess a PhD in philosophy, logic, mathematics, statistics, the health sciences (esp. medicine, pharmacology, public health), or any other discipline in the vicinity of the project’s research foci (for details see below). They will have experience as postdoctoral researchers and possess an excellent research profile documented by top-level publications in their respective fields at an international level. We are especially interested in candidates that have a formal background. The Project The positions will be part of the PRIN project Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences. The project is a cooperation between research teams from the Marche Polytechnic University at Ancona (Alexander Gebharter as PI, and Andrea Carsetti, Aldo Dragoni, Barbara Osimani as UniVPM Team) and the University of Turin (Lorenzo Rossi as co-PI, and Vincenzo Crupi, Andrea Iacona as Unito Team). It will last for 2 years. The project aims at improving the accuracy of our interpretation of scientific data and the resulting models in the health sciences. It develops a principled way to minimize or utilize uncertainty in the interpretation of data, and provides a rigorous method to reduce the risks in developing health policies based on data and results that are usually connotated by severe epistemic uncertainty or ambiguity. Research environment One of the successful candidates will join the Ancona team and one will join the Turin team. Both candidates will have the opportunity to visit the other unit for several months. Both interdisciplinary research centers consist of local and external members from many different backgrounds such as Philosophy, Medicine, Economics, Statistics, Informatics (with focus on ML and AI). There are plenty of research activities such as regular talks given by leading experts in their fields, reading groups, and workshops. Application Since for administrative reasons the application deadline will be close to the publication of the official and final call, this is a pre-call. Interested candidates may contact the project’s principal investigators Alexander Gebharter ([log in to unmask]) and Lorenzo Rossi ([log in to unmask]) at any time for questions about the announced positions. Note that for each of the two positions there will be a separate official and final call including detailed submission instructions. They will be announced in due course. |
| 10/08/2023: Project | Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences |
| Our PRIN PNRR project on Controlling and Utilizing Uncertainty in the Health Sciences (P2022RT4AT), a collaboration with the Center for Logic, Language and Cognition (LLC) at the University of Turin has just been accepted for funding. The part of the team based at the Marche Polytechnic University will consist of Alexander Gebharter (PI), Barbara Osimani, Aldo Dragoni, and Andrea Carsetti and the part based at the University of Turin of Lorenzo Rossi (PI), Vincenzo Crupi, and Andrea Iacona. For a short project description, see here. Further information and a dedicated project webpage will be available in due course. |
| Call for Applications | Marie Curie Postdoctoral Positions |
| Expression of interest for hosting Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellows – Call 2023 The Center for Philosophy, Science, and Policy (CPSP) at the Polytechnic University of the Marches, Ancona (Univpm) welcomes expressions of interest from candidates wishing to apply for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2023. Philosophers, mathematicians, statisticians, and scientists in general are all equally encouraged to apply for cutting edge research in topics related to formal methods in the sciences, broadly construed: data analysis, measurement and evidence metrics, AI, scientific modelling, science epistemology, game-theoretic analysis of strategic interactions in the sciences, science-based policies, expert judgment (aggregation), Information Theory. We are particularly interested in forwarding our research on expert systems for probabilistic causal assessment, such as E-Synthesis – however any topic within the Center’s areas of research are welcome. The CPSP fosters partnerships with several cutting-edge research Centers (MCMP, CHESS, LLC Turin, META Milan, IMT Lucca) around the globe; the candidate’s project may be therefore embedded in a network of fruitfu relationships within the Host Institution and in interaction with the network of collaborations. Interested candidates in a joint application for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship may contact the Center Co-Directors: Alexander Gebharter: a.gebharter@univpm.it Barbara Osimani: b.osimani@univpm.it Full details about the call can be found at: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/postdoctoral-fellowships The deadline for the application is September 13, 2023. You can either apply for a: 1. European Postdoctoral Fellowship: this is open to researchers moving within Europe or coming to Europe from another part of the world to pursue their research career. These fellowships take place in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and can last between 1 and 2 years. Researchers of any nationality can apply; 2. or for a Global Postdoctoral Fellowship: this funds the mobility of researchers outside Europe. The fellowship lasts between 2 to 3 years, of which the first 1 to 2 years will be spent in a non-associated Third Country, followed by a mandatory return phase of 1 year to an organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Only nationals or long-term residents of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can apply. We ask interested candidates to contact us as soon as possible, possibly no later than June 1, 2023. |
 TALK | Clark Glymour: How to Look Before You Leap |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date & Time: 1 June 2023, 12:30 CET Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Clark Glymour (Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh) Abstract: Two eminent contemporary statisticians, Andrew Gelman and Cosma Shalizi, have remarked that “our own experience suggests that however many different specifications we think of, there are always others which had not occurred to us.” Long before, John Stuart Mill observed that “it is not, I conceive, a valid reason for accepting any given hypothesis, that we are unable to imagine any other which will account for the facts.” Kyle Stanford (Exceeding Our Grasp) has described how various 18th and 19th century scientists went wrong because they did not, or could not, think of the correct alternative explanation of their evidence. This presentation is about how to search for models of your data you did not think of, either reinforcing confidence in your model if no alternatives can be found that are as good or better, or providing a caution against endorsing a favored model when others as good or better exist. It is also, more incidentally, about how to use ancillary observational data to choose variables for experimentation and about help in avoiding publishing unreproducible results. My working example will be Arthur Goldberger’s development of a causal model for voting preferences in the 1956 election for President of the United States. Slides: klick here The talk will be online via MS Teams. To attend the talk, klick here. Meeting ID: 342 752 673 69 Passcode: 8gTzPm |
| Workshop | Abduction in Philosophy of Mind |
| Date: 7 September 2023 Location: Unipark, Erzabt-Klotz Straße 1, 5020 Salzburg, Austria Organization: Christian J. Feldbacher-Escamilla (Cologne), Alexander Gebharter (UNIVPM), Maria Sekatskaya (Düsseldorf) Event Description: TBA |
| TALK | David Papineau: The Statistical Nature of Causation |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date & Time: 2 February 2023, 12:30 CET Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: David Papineau (King’s College London) Abstract: Causation is a macroscopic phenomenon. The temporal asymmetry displayed by causation has no counterpart in the fundamental dynamics of the microscopic world. So causation must somehow emerge from the underlying dynamics, along with other macroscopic phenomena like entropy increase and the arrow of radiation. In this paper I shall offer an account of causation that accounts for this emergence. I shall show how macroscopic events fall into lawlike patterns that are subject to the random influences of microscopic processes. It is the probabilistic independence of these random influences that constitutes these laws as temporally asymmetric and causal. I shall approach these issues by considering ‘causal inference’ techniques that allow causal relations to be inferred from sets of observed correlations. I shall show that these techniques are best explained by a reduction of causation to structures of equations with probabilistically independent exogenous terms. This exogenous probabilistic independence imposes a recursive order on these equations and a consequent distinction between dependent and independent variables that lines up with the temporal asymmetry of causation. Full Paper: https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onab034 |
| TALK | Jacob Stegenga: Outcome Measures |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 6 April 2022 Location: Faculty of Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Jacob Stgenga (Cambridge) |
| TALK | Jacob Stegenga: How To Be a Medical Nihilist During a Pandemic |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 5 April 2022 Location: Faculty of Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Jacob Stgenga (Cambridge) |
| TALK | Jacob Stegenga: Simulation of Data to Test Speculative Hypotheses About Science |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 31 March 2022 Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Jacob Stgenga (Cambridge) |
| Conference | Science, Health, Economics, and Society |
| Date: 9-11 September 2021 Location: Conference Center of the Campus Biomedico, via Salandra 13, Rome, Italy Organization: Fiorella Battaglia (LMU), Marta Bertolaso (UCBM, Rome), Vito Fazio (CNR), Giorgio Minotti (UCBM, Rome), Barbara Osimani (UNIVPM), Julian Reiss (Linz) Event Description: The COVID-19 emergency crisis emphasized the strong interconnection between scientific consensus/dissent, cost-effectiveness of policy interventions and their implications for public health, social welfare, economics and society at large. The debate over (mandatory) vaccination, the evaluation of the therapeutic benefits and safety associated with off-label drugs, or still-to-be approved treatments, the psychosocial effects of distancing and lockdown measures, cost-effectiveness considerations of containment measures, the economic and political implications for our welfare, and issues of social as well as economic justice bring to light the deep interconnection of scientific enterprise, health systems, and society. Furthermore, plagued by deep uncertainty and manipulative attempts, the media system may have fostered polarization of debates and a credibility crisis towards science and the political institutions. Scientific dissent on policy matters are giving a new perspective to the traditional problem of “demarcation” of science from pseudo-science. In turn this raises the theoretical question about how to characterize scientific rationality in such contexts and how to deal with scientific ecosystems characterized by vested interests and hidden agendas: who decides what is science and what is scientific? The conference gathers scientists, economists, policy-makers and methodologists of science as well as the medical profession in order to take stock, analyse best practices around the world, and advance a multidisciplinary, evidence-based debate on industry and non-industry sponsored scientific research, containment measures, prevention and treatment prospects, resources allocation and their impact for health and society, in view of advancing proposals for the development of virtuous mechanisms that reward overall public and individual health and well-being. Link to the event: klick here Program: klick here |
| TALK | Andrea Saltelli: The Ethics of Quantification |
| Date & Time: 6 May 2021, 16:00 CET Location: Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Andrea Saltelli Abstract: Statistical and mathematical models, metrical objects, artificial intelligence applied to big data, all promise a better way to manage the present and the future. This proliferation of numbers, both visible and invisible, increasingly permeates the real, expanding in scope and sophistication. Not so society’s capacity to adapt, manage and, when necessary, oppose, harmful or undesired effects. Alarms against the downsides of quantification are heard from several disciplines, from within the number generating communities, as well as from outside, from sociologists, philosophers, and jurists concerned with quantification. Finance, economics, education, aid, law, environment, no field is left untouched by digits, rating, scoring and number-based decisions. The existing different instances and voices of critique may be assisted by an ethics of quantification. As part of this, an observatory is proposed here to judge of the quality of quantifications, both existing and oncoming, by tackling, in a trans-disciplinary style, different problems settings via case-studies. |
| TALK | Julian Reiss: The Perennial Methodenstreit: Evidence, First Principles, and the Ricardian Vice |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 13 February 2020 Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Julian Reiss (Kepler Universität Linz) |
| TALK | Julian Reiss: On the Causal Wars |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 12 February 2020 Location: Faculty of Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Julian Reiss (Kepler Universität Linz) |
| Workshop | Scientific Rationality & Strategic Interaction |
| Date: 8 November 2019 Location: Aula seminari, Bocconi University, via Roentgen 1, Milan, Italy Organization: Pierpaolo Battigalli, Barbara Osimani Speakers: Alfredo Di Tillio, Edoardo Spina, Mantas Radzvilas, Pierpaolo Battigalli, William Peden, Giovanni Tuzet, Paola Berchialla, Daniele Chiffi, Barbara Osimani Event Description: We were delighted to hold a workshop on Scientific Rationality & Strategic Interaction at Bocconi University in Milan. It was kindly hosted and co-organised by the Dipartimento di Economia Ettore Bocconi. The talks were from philosophy, economics (especially game theory) and legal studies. The workshop was born from a desire to explore scientific rationality and strategic rationality in a variety of domains from a diverse range of perspectives, as well as the interactions and conceptual relationships between these forms of rationality. It was an excellent chance to articulate, share, and discuss ideas. It brought together researchers with affiliations at Bocconi University, Polytechnic University of Milan, LMU Munich, Marche Polytechnic University, and the University of Turin. |
| TALK | Fiorella Battaglia: Moral Machines, and the Future of Humanity |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 29 October 2019 Location: Faculty of Engineering, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Fiorella Battaglia (LMU, Munich) |
| Conference | Bayes By the Sea: Formal Epistemology, Statistics, and Game Theory |
| Date: 30-31 August 2019 Location: Facoltà di Economia “Giorgio Fuà”, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Organization: Barbara Osimani, Stefano Bonzio, William Peden, Mantas Radzvilas, Todd Stambaugh Keynote Speakers: Andrés Perea (Maastricht), Teddy Seidenfeld (CMU), Jan Sprenger (Turin) Event Description: Recent proposals for scientific reform highlight the need to develop an integrated approach towards scientific methodology, which accounts for the interaction of foundational, pragmatic, and strategic dimensions of evidence evaluation. The second edition of the Bayes By the Sea conference: “Formal Epistemology, Statistics, and Game Theory” aims to bring together philosophers of statistics and of the scientific method, methodologists and metascientists, as well as economists and game-theorists, in order to refresh the debate on the foundations of the sciences from new perspectives, with a special focus on scientific rationality, scientific misconduct, science economics, foundations of statistics and the scientific method, in diverse scientific ecosystems characterized by distinctive practices, structures, and institutions. A special attention will be devoted this year also to formal/conceptual tools of game theory/rational choice theory in representing and studying the interactions of agents operating in scientific ecosystems as strategic behavior of rational players, whose repeated interactions shape the current scientific practices. Webpage: https://www.bayesbythesea.com |
| Summer School | Bayes By the Sea: Rationality and Strategic Interaction in the Sciences |
| Date: 25-29 August 2019 Location: Faculty of Economics, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Organization: Barbara Osimani, Stefano Bonzio, William Peden, Mantas Radzvilas, Todd Stambaugh Lecturers: Philip Dawid (Cambridge), Stephan Hartmann (Munich), Andrés Perea (Maastricht), Teddy Seidenfeld (Carnegie Mellon), Jan Sprenger (Turin) Event Description: The School aims to offer a broad range of seminars and hands-on lessons by experts in formal epistemology, philosophy of statistics, philosophy of science and game theory in order to address foundational questions in the sciences from new perspectives, with a special focus on formal models of social interactions and scientific inference. In particular, students will attend both theoretical lectures held by distinguished scholars in the fields and classes offering tutorials on formal methods and tools, as well as extensive overviews on the school related topics. Each of the school threads will be covered by interactive group work, exercises, and one-to-one sessions, which will provide attendees with the opportunity to deepen their proficiency in a particular topic of interest. Webpage: https://www.bayesbytheseaschool.com/home |
| Conference | Joint 12th MuST & 3rd PSE Conference: Statistical Reasoning and Scientific Error |
| Date: 1-4 July 2019 Location: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany Organization: Mattia Andreoletti (Turin), Mark Colyvan (Sydney), Noah van Dongen (Turin), Paul Griffiths (Sydney), Stephan Hartmann (Munich), Daniël Lakens (Eindhoven), Barbara Osimani (UNIVPM), Jan-Willem Romeijn (Groningen), Felipe Romero (Groningen), Jan Sprenger (Turin) Invited Speakers: Deborah Mayo (Virginia Tech), Regina Nuzzo (Gallaudet University), Miklós Rédei (LSE), Uri Simonsohn (Universitat Ramón Llull), Event Description: Statistical reasoning pervades experimental research, but how to apply it is a longstanding issue of debate in philosophy and science. Recent studies that reveal a high prevalence of error and lack of reproducibility in published research highlight the urgency of developing sound foundations of statistical reasoning, and finding techniques for detecting and correcting scientific error. So much the more as scientific error undermines the epistemic authority of science, and the degree to which policy-makers trust scientific experts. The conference brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers interested in issues of statistical reasoning and scientific error. It focuses on the foundations of statistical inference, how statistical reasoning is applied in the sciences, how statistical inference can correct scientific error and which proposals for reforming scientific method (including restructuring the peer review and publication system) can increase the reliability of published research. The conference is a joint event of the Munich-Sydney-Turin conference series in philosophy of science and the workshop series “Perspectives on Scientific Error”. Previous editions of these workshops can be consulted here (PSE1, Tilburg 2017) and here (PSE2, Groningen 2018). Financial and logistic support from the European Research Council (ERC) through Starting Grants No. 639276 (“Philosophy of Pharmacology”) and No. 640638 (“Making Scientific Inferences More Objective) and the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. Webpage: https://scientificerror2019.wordpress.com |
| TALK | Nevia Dolcini: Stati di allucinazione: una riflessione tra Filosofia e Scienza |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 14 May 2019 Location: Faculty of Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Nevia Dolcini (Macao) |
| Workshop | Modelling Scientific Ecosystems: Medicine and Pharmacology |
| Date: 14 January 2019 Location: Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speakers: Stefano Bonzio, Federico Boem, Mantas Radzvillas, Todd Stambaugh, Jan Niederreiter, Gustavo Cevolani, Massimo Riccaboni, Francesco De Pretis, Barbara Osimani Webpage: klick here |
| TALK | Gustavo Cevolani: Ragionamento, Decisioni e Trappole Mentali |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date: 11 October 2018 Location: Faculty of Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Gustavo Cevolani (IMT, Lucca) |
| Conference | Bayes By the Sea |
| Date: 13-14 September 2018 Location: Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Webpage: klick here |
| Roundtable | Philosophy of Evidence: Dimensions of Evidence and Criteria for Standards Improvement |
| Date: 18-20 June 2018 Location: Oxford, United Kingdom Organization: Barbara Osimani Participants: Jeff Aronson (Oxford University), Rani Anjum (Norwegian University of Life Sciences), Vincenzo Crupi (University of Turin), Ralph Edwards (UMC), Bennett Holman (Yonsey University), Marie Lindquist (UMC), Elena Rocca (Norwegian University of Life Sciences), Ben Smart (University of Johannesburg) |
| Roundtable | Evidence in Statistics, Biomedical and Legal Sciences |
| Date: 8 June 2018 Location: Faculty on Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Organization: Barbara Osimani, Francesco De Pretis, Stefano Bonzio, Armando Sacco Discussants: Barbara Osimani, Raffaele Giorgetti, Mark Colyvan, Luigi Ferrante, Gianluca Moroncini, Eric Vuurman, Lucio Monaco, Adriano Tagliabracci, Giuseppe Gennari Event Description: Philosophers of Sciences repeatedly highlighted the relational nature of evidence: evidence is always evidence for a certain hypothesis, in a certain theoretic framework and for a certain purpose. The pragmatic (and strategic) aspect become more important when the decisions that a set of evidences has to support are not purely epistemic (accept or refuse a hypothesis or validate or not a theory), but they have practical consequences, especially in law and trials. The workshop has the aim to examine the different dimensions of evidence and their interaction. Philosophers, legal experts and scientists will discuss about the relationship between procedural rules and juridical standards, inferential models from sciences and statistics, and forms of justification of theoretical and factual knowledge. Webpage: klick here |
| TALK | Giovanni Boniolo: The Ethical Plausibility of the “Right To Try” Laws |
| This talk is part of the Philosophy, Science, and Policy seminar series. Date & Time: 14 May 2018, 12:00 CET Location: Aula F, Faculty of Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy Speaker: Giovanni Boniolo (Università degli Studi di Ferrara) Abstract: Right To Try (RTT) laws originated in the USA to allow terminally ill patients to request access to early stage experimental medical products directly from the producer, removing the oversight and approval of the Food and Drug Administration. These laws have received signicant media attention and almost equally unanimous criticism by the bioethics, clinical and scientic communities. They touch indeed on complex issues such as the conflict between individual and public interest, and the public understanding of medical research and its regulation. The increased awareness around RTT laws means that healthcare providers directly involved in the management of patients with life-threatening conditions such as cancer, infective, or neurologic conditions will deal more frequently with patients requests of access to experimental medical products. This talk aims to assess the ethical plausibility of the RTT laws, and to suggest some possible ethical tools and considerations to address the main issues they touch. |