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We discuss two different ways that the term “analog” (as opposed to “digital”) is used in the methodology of computer science and those engineering disciplines that are related to computer science. We show that formal models of computation on real numbers provide, indeed, an explication of w...

Philosophy of Computer Science
Symposium

Causal models provide a promising framework for analyzing actual causation. Such analyses must include how a model should map onto the world. While universally endorsed that a model must be accurate – saying only true things – the implications of this aren’t explored. I argue that, surprisingl...

Causation
Contributed Papers

Shifts are a well-known feature of the literature on spacetime symmetries. Recently, discussions have focused on so-called dynamic shifts, which by analogy with static and kinematic shifts enact arbitrary linear accelerations of all matter (as well as a change in the gravitational potential). But in...

Philosophy of Physics - space and time
Contributed Papers

Philosophy of Technology
Poster

History of philosophy of science
Poster

Belief polarization occurs when the beliefs of agents diverge upon updating on certain types of evidence. Recent research indicates that belief can arise even amongst rational agents \cite{Jern_Polarization, Kelly_2008, O_Connor_Polarization}. Although the specific mechanisms differ, I distinguish t...

Formal Epistemology
Symposium

Analogue experiments have attracted interest for their potential to shed light on inaccessible domains. In 1981, Unruh found a striking mathematical analogy between the propagation of light waves near a black hole and the propagation of sound in fluids. In fact, a number of distinct such 'analogue' ...

Philosophy of Physics - general / other
Symposium

Bias Bounty

PSA2022754

Notions of fair machine learning that seek to control various kinds of error across protected groups generally are cast as constrained optimization problems over a fixed model class. For all such problems, tradeoffs arise: asking for various kinds of technical fairness requires compromising on overa...

Contributed Papers

In this paper, I use a number of examples of multiscale modeling in biology to argue that the primary challenge facing these modelers is not how to metaphysically interpret their models, but is instead using various idealizations to bring the available multiscale modeling techniques to bear on the p...

Scientific Models / Modeling
Contributed Papers

It has long been thought that observing the effects of quantum gravity is effectively impossible, since gravity is so much weaker than other forces: consider, for instance the utterly insensible gravitational attraction of a magnet, compared with the very sensible magnetic force it exerts. But by dr...

Philosophy of Physics - general / other
Symposium

Philosophical discussions of causal faithfulness have been predominantly situated within the social sciences—the traditional domain of application of the causal modeling techniques it attends. Recently, there has been increasing interest in applying such techniques to uncover causal relationships ...

Causation
Contributed Papers

Reciprocal causation is the view that adaptive evolution is a bidirectional process, whereby organisms and environments impinge on each other through cycles of niche construction and natural selection. I argue, however, that reciprocal causation is incompatible with the recent view that natural sele...

Philosophy of Biology - evolution
Contributed Papers

Breeds are classifications of domestic animals that share a set of conventional phenotypic traits. We claim that, despite classifying biological entities, animal breeds are social kinds. Breeds originate in a social mechanism (artificial selection) by which humans dominate the agency of certain anim...

Natural Kinds / Classification
Contributed Papers

The persistent pervasiveness of small studies in empirical fields is regularly deplored in scientific discussions. Taken individually, higher-powered studies are more likely to be truth-conducive. However, are they also beneficial for the wider performance of truth-seeking communities? We study the ...

Formal Epistemology
Contributed Papers

A central problem for machine learning (ML) models is that they are “black boxes” and epistemically opaque. This means the inner workings of these models—how the model internally represents the data to reach a certain decision—are opaque or a “black box” to experts. This is concerning in...

Machine learning and AI
Symposium

Like Austin’s “performatives”, some models are used not merely to represent, but also to change their targets. This paper argues that Austin’s analysis can inform model evaluation: if models are evaluated with respect to whether they are adequate for particular purposes (Parker 2020), and if...

Philosophy of Social Science
Contributed Papers

I argue that thinking with good reason that a hypothesis $H$ is the best available explanation for some phenomenon does not entail that we are justified in believing $H$. Thus, inference to the best explanation does not in general give us justified belief. My argument is distinct from the so-called ...

General philosophy of science - other
Contributed Papers

Belief polarization occurs when individuals with opposing initial beliefs strengthen their beliefs in response to the same evidence. In previous work (“Disagreement, Dogmatism, and Belief Polarization,” Journal of Philosophy 2008), I explored the hypothesis that the psychological mechanisms that...

Formal Epistemology
Symposium

Anthropogenic climate change (CC) poses a serious global threat, and human responses to this problem are usually framed in terms of mitigation (the reduction of human actions that contribute to climate change) and adaptation (the response to actual or expected impacts of changes in the climate with ...

Philosophy of Climate Science
Symposium

The conservation ecologist Robert Lackey (2005, 2013) describes stealth policy advocacy as strategy deployed in the pursuit of “policy-based science.” As a proponent of the value-free ideal, Lackey argues that the adoption of ethical values by scientists (in a professional capacity) undermines t...

Philosophy of Environmental Science
Symposium

While philosophers have raised many interesting questions concerning the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of food, philosophy of science has paid little attention to the nutrition sciences. In this symposium we bring together philosophers and a scientist to explore conceptual and empirical challenge...

Philosophy of Biology - general / other
Symposium

Commonly in neuroscientific research today, scientists build models that can perform cognitive capacities and compare their activity with neuronal activity, with the purpose of learning about brain computations. These models are constrained only by the task they must perform. Therefore, it is a wort...

Philosophy of Neuroscience
Contributed Papers

Journalistic practice is guided by norms receive sparing attention from philosophers, especially in the context of science reporting. This presentation examines how a conflict between two norms manifests in science journalism due to the phenomenon of science denialism. As outlined by the Society of ...

General philosophy of science - other
Symposium

Realism / Anti-realism / Instrumentalism
Poster

How should universities evaluate scientific research? This paper critically assesses the quantitative approach to the evaluation of scientific outputs based on publication metrics. First, I provide an overview of the standard indicators, such as Impact Factor and h-index. Secondly, I show that one l...

Science policy
Contributed Papers

It is commonly believed that symmetry principles explain conservation laws. Since conservation laws can be mathematically derived from symmetries and vice versa, the explanatory asymmetry deserves philosophical justification. Marc Lange (2007) claims that symmetries are meta-laws that govern and hen...

Laws and Necessity
Contributed Papers

The relationship between Indigenous knowledge and science is a topic of increasing global discussion, especially regarding climate and environmental sciences. A lot of this discussion has centred around comparing or contrasting the two on a range of counts, such as epistemic merit, methodological ov...

General philosophy of science - other
Symposium

I draw attention to an under-theorized problem for the application of machine learning models in science, which I call semantic opacity. Semantic opacity occurs when the knowledge needed to translate the output of an unsupervised model into scientific concepts depends on theoretical assumptions abou...

Machine learning and AI
Contributed Papers

When many statistical hypotheses are tested simultaneously (e.g., when searching for genes associated with a disease), some statisticians recommend “correcting” classical hypothesis tests to avoid inflation of the false positive rate. I defend three theses. First, such “corrections” have no ...

Probability and Statistics
Symposium

When solving a complex problem in a group, should we always choose the best available solution? In this paper, I build simulation models to show that, surprisingly, a group of agents who randomly follow a better available solution than their own can end up outperforming a group of agents who follow ...

Formal Epistemology
Symposium

Science policy
Poster

Realism / Anti-realism / Instrumentalism
Poster

If you can’t or don’t want to ascribe probabilities to the consequences of your actions, classic causal decision theory won’t let you reap the undeniable benefits of causal reasoning for decision making. The following theory fixes this problem. I explain why it’s good to have a causal decisi...

Decision Theory
Contributed Papers