de lavi | iul. 11, 2013 | Conferinte
The Department of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, organizes on 28th July at 20.00 a Round-Table live on the Internet: “Micro-neuronal level and/or macro-neuronal level in explaining cognition”. Participants and their corresponding times zone: John Bickle (Mississippi State University) at 13.00-New York (28th July), Adele Abrahamsen, William Bechtel (University of California, San Diego), Gabriel Vacariu (Bucharest University) at 20.00-Bucharest (28th July), and William Uttal (Arizona State University) at 07.00-Hawaii (29th July). Taking into account the significant distances between the participants’ location, the round-table will depend on the network conditions.
de lavi | iun. 25, 2013 | Conferinte
3 iulie 2013
Title: „Much ado about nothing – the concept of vacuum in physics and philosophy”
Speaker: Sorin Paraoanu (Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland)
Abstract:
The concept of vacuum appears in different branches of physics, from condensed matter physics to black holes and cosmology; most likely it will be a key element for the unification of gravitation and quantum physics. Unlike classical „emptiness”, the quantum vacuum is not an inert object: it is bursting with activity, with virtual processes of creation/annihilation occuring all the time due to quantum fluctuations. I will briefly discuss an experiment done in our lab [P. Lahteenmaki, G. S. Paraoanu, J. Hassel, and P. J. Hakonen, Dynamical Casimir effect in a Josephson metamaterial, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 4234 (2013)] demonstrating that one can transform these virtual particles into real ones. I will examine the implications of this experiment, as well as other related ones, on concepts such as reality (actuality) versus potentiality.
With the introduction above as an example, I will then continue with a more general discussion, with the participation of the audience, on the radical shift that happened relatively recently between physics and philosophy (especially metaphysics): in the last decades, venerable metaphysical concepts such as causality, space and time, free will, determinism, reality, etc. have become accessible to experiment and are gradually becoming part of the mainstream physics. It looks as if physics is capable of incorporating its own meta-physics. I hope to spark a dialogue on what are the consequences of this shift for the relation between physics and philosophy.
Acest eveniment face parte din cadrul Seminarului Departamentului de Filosofie Teoretica, iar intalnirile se desfasoara in zilele de miercuri, de la ora 18:00 in amfiteatrul Constantin Radulescu Motru al Facultatii de Filosofie.
de lavi | iun. 13, 2013 | Conferinte
On 22.07.2013, at 13.30, Faculty of Philosophy (University of Bucharest) will be a round-table: „The role of neuroscience in explaining cognition”. Participants: William Bechtel (Philosophy, University of California, San Diego), Adele Abrahamsen (Project Scientist in the Center for Research in Language, University of California, San Diego), Maria-Luiza Flonta (Neuroscience, Biology, UB), Mircea Dumitru (Philosophy, UB), Leon Zagrean (Neuroscience, UMF), Bogdan Amuzescu (Neuroscience, Biology, UB), Gabriel Vacariu (Philosophy, UB).
de lavi | iun. 7, 2013 | Conferinte
RICHARD SWINBURNE (UNIVERSITATEA OXFORD) – MIND, BRAIN AND FREEWILL, CONFERINŢA VA AVEA LOC LUNI 10.06.2013 ORA 14,00 ÎN SALA DE CONFERINŢE A FACULTĂŢII DE FILOSOFIE.
de lavi | iun. 5, 2013 | Conferinte
Pe 22 iulie 2013, orele 12.00-14.00, profesorul William Bechtel (University of San Diego, USA) va sustine conferinta „The New Mechanistic Philosophy of Science” (in English). Conferinta va avea loc la Facultatea de Filosofie, Universitatea din Bucuresti. Mentionam ca William Bechtel este unul dintre cei mai importanti filosofi care lucreaza in domeniul „filosofia stiintei (neuro)cognitiei”.
