Ph.d.-jobs i videnskabsfilosofi

PhD-positions in Philosophy of Science (CauSci - Causation in Science)

2 PhD-positions available - Causation in Science

Full announcement here: http://www.jobbnorge.no/job.aspx?jobid=72271

CauSci announces two full-time 3-year PhD fellowships in Philosophy, with focus on philosophy of science, as part of the interdisciplinary research project 'Causation in Science', http://www.umb.no/causci, based at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences UMB.

CauSci is a 4-year research project, funded by the Research Council of Norway and hosted by UMB. The main goal of this project is to investigate issues related to causation within the sciences, while at the same time contributing to a better philosophical understanding of the notion of causation. Central issues are dispositionality, emergence, complexity and context-sensitivity.

The successful candidates will perform research as described in the CauSci project contract and description, with focus on one of the following subject areas:

(1) Physics: spatial and temporal locality/non-locality of causation, causal realism, causal symmetry/asymmetry, causal determinism/indeterminism
(2) Biology (genetics, ecology or medicine): the causal role of genes, genetic determinism, biological reductionism, the role of context
(3) Sociology, law or economics: reductionism/emergence of social entities and dispositions, causation and legal responsibility, causal complexity, context-sensitivity and the possibility of causal prediction
(4) Psychology: agency and event causation, free will and determinism, intentionality, reduction/emergence of mental dispositions, causal perception

Applicants are referred to the CauSci webpage http://www.umb.no/causci for more information about the research areas and theoretical background of the project. Applicants may also receive a copy of the contract and formal description of the project by contacting Project Manager Rani
Lill Anjum, rani.anjum@umb.no.

Successful candidates will be expected to be based at UMB and contribute actively to the project on a day-to-day basis through planning, research, publications, talks and workshop organization. As part of their career development and research training, it is a formal requirement that candidates are admitted to and follow an approved programme for the PhD degree.

We offer:
* a competitive salary (starting at NOK 383 900 or GBP 41.630 per year)
* a large international and interdisciplinary project network of established philosophers and scientists
* an opportunity to spend 1-12 months abroad with extra expenses covered
* a friendly and informal work-environment in beautiful surroundings in the old part of the UMB campus

Required qualifications for the position are an MA or MPhil degree with documented research experience relevant to the project and a solid background in philosophy. Education, research experience or documented interest in one or more of the scientific fields to be studied in the project will be given some weight in the evaluation of the candidates.

More information may be obtained by contacting project leader Dr Rani
Lill Anjum, rani.anjum@umb.no

Please include in your application a 1-page (max.) application letter, CV, the names and contact details of two referees, a subproject proposal (max. 2000 words), and a writing sample of relevant work (e.g. paper, article, chapter). The subproject proposal will identify the subject area that the applicant will address in his or her research work. Furthermore, the proposal should provide indications of how the applicant will proceed with the work, and how his or her personal qualifications will come to use in the CauSci project.

The application should be submitted via the link: "Apply for this job" on this web page by March 1, 2011

Printed material which cannot be sent electronically (e.g. copies of verified certificates, writing samples, etc) should be sent in
triplicate (3 copies of each) by regular mail to Norwegian University of Life Sciences, School of Economics and Business, P.O Box 5003, N-1432 Aas, Norway. Quote reference number: 2011/138

An interview will be a part of the selection process.

Apply here:
http://www.jobbnorge.no/job.aspx?jobid=72271

The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) is recognised as a leading international centre of knowledge, focused on higher education and research within environment- and biosciences. Together with other research institutes established at Aas, UMB provides state-of-the-art knowledge based on a broad range of disciplines. A broad range of study programmes are offered at Bachelor, Master and PhD level. In total, UMB has some 3800 students of which about 400 are PhD students. There are many different nationalities at UMB; the international students make up over 10% of all students at the University. Of the 1050 University staff, more than half hold scientific positions. UMB is located 35 km South of Oslo. See www.umb.no.

Rani Lill Anjum
Associate Professor of Philosophy & Project Leader of CauSci
Department of Economics and Resource Management
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Phone: (+47) 64965712
E-mail: rani.anjum@umb.no
http://www.umb.no/causci

Videnskabsteori i en erhvervskontekst

bogomtale:

Videnskab i virkeligheden

- en grundbog i videnskabsteori

Af Andreas Beck Holm

257 sider • vejl. pris 332 kr.
ISBN: 978-87-593-1506-4
1. udgave 2011 Samfundslitteratur

Vidensarbejderen spiller en central rolle som bindeled mellem videnskabens teoretiske og erhvervslivets praktiske niveauer. I sin nye bog udpeger Andreas Beck Holm videnskabsteorien som en forudsætning for denne rolle. Og med eksempler hentet fra blandt andet erhvervskommunikation, management og marketing viser han, hvordan videnskabsteoretiske indsigter lader sig overføre til vidensarbejderens dagligdag i virksomheder og organisationer.

At være vidensarbejder betyder ikke først og fremmest at man har viden, men at man kan arbejde kritisk og reflekteret med den, påpeger Andreas Beck Holm. Forudsætningen for at vidensarbejderen kan stille relevante kritiske spørgsmål til sin egen og andres viden og til de problemstillinger, han møder i det daglige arbejde, er videnskabsteorien.

Videnskab i virkeligheden er tænkt og skrevet som en videnskabsteoretisk introduktion til studerende på landets handelshøjskoler. Det afspejler sig i dens praktiske eksempler, som altovervejende er hentet fra fag som erhvervskommunikation, økonomi, management og marketing.

Bogen tager afsæt i de studerendes fremtid som vidensarbejdere. Den kombinerer en grundig gennemgang af videnskabsteoretiske positioner og problemstillinger med en perspektivering til vidensarbejdernes udfordringer i virksomheder og organisationer og til, hvordan de studerende selv kan arbejde med teorierne.

Videnskab i virkeligheden anlægger en bred definition på videnskabsteori, som ikke blot omfatter filosofiske, men også eksempelvis videnssociologiske problemstillinger. Bogen er bygget op omkring nogle af de væsentligste videnskabsteoretiske skoler. Positioner, emner og forfattere er således valgt ud fra deres tematiske sammenhæng, og i endnu højere grad for deres uomgængelighed i en samfundsvidenskabelig kontekst

Andreas Beck Holm (f. 1973) er cand.mag. i filosofi og fransk og ph.d. i filosofi fra Aarhus Universitet. Til daglig underviser han i videnskabsteori, metode og virksomhedsetik ved Handelshøjskolen i Aarhus. Han er forfatter til en række artikler og bøger om social- og samfundsteori.

Læs mere om bogen her

Fejlslagne revolutioner i fysikken

Bogomtale:

Higher Speculations

Grand Theories and Failed Revolutions in Physics and Cosmology

by Helge Kragh

416 pages | 17 b/w line and halftone illustrations | 240x168mm

978-0-19-959988-2 | Hardback | 06 January 2011

Oxford University Press 2011

• First comprehensive and critical study of the history of ultimate theories in physics and cosmology
• Uses history of science as a resource for insight into current problems of fundamental physics
• Combines scholarship with accessible presentation
• Presents much new material and documentation

Throughout history, people have tried to construct 'theories of everything': highly ambitious attempts to understand nature in its totality. This account presents these theories in their historical contexts, from little known hypotheses from the past to modern developments such as the theory of superstrings, the anthropic principle and ideas of many universes, and uses them to problematize the limits of scientific knowledge. Do claims to theories of everything belong to science at all? Which are the epistemic standards on which an alleged scientific theory of the universe - or the multiverse - is to be judged? Such questions are currently being discussed by physicists and cosmologists, but rarely within a historical perspective. This book argues that these questions have a history and that knowledge of the historical development of 'higher speculations' may inform and qualify the current debate of the nature and limits of scientific explanation.

Readership: Historians and philosophers of science; general public interested in physics, astronomy and cosmology.

Read introduction here.