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Bergen Logical Epistemology Workshop and Masterclass 2019

This year鈥檚 Bergen Workshop on Logical Disagreements will be held on the 28th-29th May, with the Early-Career Masterclass following on the 30th-31st May. Details about the events and registration below. All welcome!

To figurer som som st氓r i hver sin ende av tallet 6 / 9 slik at det ser ut som 6 for den ene og 9 for den andre.
Photo:
Mushki Brichta

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BERGEN WORKSHOP ON LOGICAL DISAGREEMENTS (28th-29th May)

Anyone who has any acquaintance with contemporary logic recognises that researchers disagree about the correct logical theory. In this sense, logic is no different from any other area of enquiry. However, logical disagreements do seem peculiar. For example, many logical propositions appear to be epistemically basic, so that no new information from any other research area could constitute evidence for or against them. Consequently, the available routes to a resolution of logical disagreements are far more restricted than in other research areas.

This workshop will provide an opportunity for researchers within the field of logic to discuss these features of logical disagreements, addressing questions including:

  • Are logical disagreements possible?
  • Are there distinct types of logical disagreements?
  • Are logical disagreements different from those in other fields in any important respect?
  • Can logical disagreements ever be resolved?
  • How have historical logical disagreements been resolved?

Confirmed speakers:

  • (Washington University, St. Louis)
  • (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
  • (Bristol University)
  • Andreas Fjellstad (Universitetet i Bergen)
  • Ole Hjortland (Universitetet i Bergen)
  • (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
  • (Washington University in St. Louis)
  • Ben Martin (Universitetet i Bergen)
  • Tore 脴gaard (Universitetet i Bergen)
  • (University of St Andrews)
  • (University of Bonn)
  • (Northern Illinois)

The workshop is organised as part of the European Research Council-funded project .

BERGEN EARLY-CAREER MASTERCLASS ON LOGICAL EPISTEMOLOGY (30th-31st May)

This masterclass will provide early-career researchers with an opportunity to both attend tutorials by experts in the field of logical epistemology, and present their own work within the philosophy of logic, receiving feedback from more senior colleagues.

Confirmed Tutorials:

(Washington University, St. Louis):
Proxy Debates: Can Leon Trotsky and Ayn Rand Disagree about A=A?

In 鈥淭he ABC of Materialist Dialectics鈥 (1939) Leon Trotsky challenges Aristotle鈥檚 reactionary doctrine that A=A. In Atlas Shrugged, the capitalist Ayn Rand defends A=A and its consequent clear-eyed realism.听 David Lewis denies that there can be any philosophical disagreement about identity; identity is utterly simple and obvious. Disputes about identity are really proxy debates about other questions such as whether objects persist over time. All these issues are more efficiently discussed by paraphrasing away identity. Is Lewis鈥 policy generalizable to all debates about logical constants? Is it viable for any of them?

Drawings of children laying sleeping with two sings on the wall "A=A" and "Helping is futile"

Rand Nursery

Photo:
Roy Sorensen

Ole Hjortland(University of Bergen):
Anti-Exceptionalism about Logic

The historical consensus is that logic is special in some sense. For example, that logical laws are both formal and general in a way that other laws are not, and that logical knowledge is immediate and non-inferential in a way that other knowledge is not. Yet, it is now recognised there are significant problems facing logical exceptionalism, due both to general philosophical concerns over apriori sources of evidence, and exceptionalism鈥檚 failure to accommodate actual logical practice. In response to these concerns, logical anti-exceptionalism proposes that the special nature of logic and its laws have been significantly exaggerated. In this masterclass we provide an overview of the debate between exceptionalism and anti-exceptionalism: we outline the ways in which logic has historically been considered special, explain how past and current versions of anti-exceptionalism challenge this view, and discuss the challenges facing anti-exceptionalism.

Confirmed Participants:

  • (University of Leeds)
  • (Universit脿 di Pisa)
  • Evelyn Erickson (Universitetet i Bergen)
  • (Columbia University)
  • (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte)
  • Tore 脴gaard (Universitetet i Bergen)
  • (School for Advanced 大象传媒 IUSS Pavia)
  • Sindre S酶derstr酶m (Universitetet i Bergen)
  • (Columbia State Community College, Tennessee)
  • (University of Sussex)

The masterclass is organised as part of the European Research Council-funded project .

REGISTRATION AND WORKSHOP DINNER

All speakers and non-speakers should register their attendance. There is no fee for attending the workshop, and a NOK 1000 (roughly 鈧100) fee to attend the masterclass.

There will also be a workshop dinner on Tuesday 28th May, costing NOK 400 (roughly 鈧40), which includes the price of both food and a drink. If you would like to attend, please indicate this on the registration form.

Registration form for the Workshop on Logical Disagreements:

Registration form for the听Early-Career Masterclass on Logical Epistemology:听听

The deadline for registration for both events is 25th April 2019.

For any queries, contact Ben Martin (benjamin.martin@uib.no).

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Getting to Bergen

The airport for Bergen is called Bergen Flesland, which is just outside of the city. It鈥檚 normally just known on flight booking sites as 鈥淏ergen鈥.

You can fly directly to Bergen from some international airports, but often you need to change at Oslo, Amsterdam or London Gatwick. If the website you鈥檙e using to look up flights doesn鈥檛 do this automatically for you, it鈥檚 worth looking up which of these changes is the most convenient/cheapest.

From the airport, it鈥檚 easy to get into the city centre via the light rail (bybanen) or a coach (flybussen). Either takes between 30 and 45 minutes, as they stop regularly. The bybanen costs around 鈧3.5, and the flybussen around 鈧10.

Accommodation

For accommodation, there are two options.

The first, which is more expensive, is to stay in a hotel. UiB has preferential rates with many of the hotels in the city, including:

  • Scandic Bergen City
  • Scandic Ornen
  • Scandic Neptun
  • Radisson Blu Royal Hotel
  • Grand Terminus Hotel
  • Hotel Agustin
  • City Box

When you contact the hotels, you should mention that you are attending a conference at UiB. You can even cc our administrator Kirsten Bang (Kirsten.Bang@uib.no)听into the email, who can confirm this is the case. Rates vary, but one can normally get a room for around 鈧110 per night.

The second, and undoubtedly cheaper, option is to get a room or apartment via Airbnb (or, a similar service). Obviously, Airbnb is popular everywhere, but particularly in Norway given the cost of hotels. You can easily get a room for 鈧50-60 per night.

In terms of location, the city centre is small and very walkable. Most parts of the city are a pleasant 30-minute walk away at the most from the philosophy department. If you are looking for a room or apartment, the Nordnes and Sandviken areas are particularly nice this time of year, with the long evenings.

Location

Both the workshop and masterclass sessions on听Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday have been moved to听Auditorium A, Sydneshaugen skole, Sydnesplassen 9, 5007 Bergen. The Thursday masterclass sessions will still be in the Philosophy Department,听Sydnesplassen 12/13, seminar-/meeting room at the ground floor.

The department itself is in听Sydnesplass, on the top of a hill next to Johanneskirken (the big red church鈥攜ou can鈥檛 miss it!). The main venue, Sydneshaugen skole, is just behind the church (in a yellow building).听