MODELING THE WORLD: PERSPECTIVES FROM BIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS
28-30 May, University of Helsinki Main Building, auditorium VII
Guest speakers: William Wimsatt (University of Chicago), Peter Godfrey-Smith (Harward University), Michael Weisberg (University of Pennsylvania), Kevin Hoover (Duke University), Robert Sugden (University of East Anglia) and Ilkka Hanski (Academy of Finland)
Organized by: Uskali Mäki (Academy of Finland) and Michael Weisberg (University of Pennsylvania) together with The Academy of Finland Project "Trends and Tensions in Intellectual Integration" (TINT).
THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME:
Thursday, May 28th
10.00-10.15
Opening: Uskali Mäki and Michael Weisberg
10.15-11.15
ILKKA HANSKI (ACADEMY OF FINLAND)
Simple and complex models in population ecology - an ecologist's perspective
11.15-12.15
JAN SPRENGER (TILBURG UNIVERSITY)
The virtue of simplicity or the vice of complexity? – Theoretical and statistical modeling in ecology
12.15-13.30
Lunch
13.30-14.30
USKALI MäKI (ACADEMY OF FINLAND)
Truth, falsity, and other virtues in modeling
14.30-15.30
BART ENGELEN (UNIVERSITY OF LEUVEN)
When idealization goes too far … A realist perspective on the role of assumptions in economic models
15.30-16.00
Refreshments
16.00-17.00
ROGIER DE LANGHE (GHENT UNIVERSITY)
Trading off explanatory virtues in economics
17.00-17.45
END OF DAY DISCUSSION. Chair: Peter Godfrey-Smith (Harvard University)
Friday, May 29th
11.00-11.15
Opening
11.15-12.15
WILLIAM WIMSATT (UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO)
Maximizing, satisficing, and entrenchment
12.15-13.15
KEVIN HOOVER (DUKE UNIVERSITY)
Identity, structure, and causation in economic models
13.15-14.30
Lunch
14.30-15.30
BRETT CALCOTT & JOHN MATTHEWSON (AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY)
Natural selection and the moniac: the diverse relations between models and mechanisms
15.30-16.30
PETER GODFREY-SMITH (HARVARD UNIVERSITY)
Evolutionary models and cultural change
16.30-17.00
Refreshments
17.00-18.00
TILL GRüNE-YANOFF (HELSINKI COLLEGIUM FOR ADVANCED STUDIES)
Models as product of interdisciplinary exchange: The case of evolutionary game theory
18.00-18.45
END OF DAY DISCUSSION. Chair: Michael Weisberg (University of Pennsylvania)
Saturday, May 30th
10.00-10.15
Opening
10.15-11.15
ROBERT SUGDEN (UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA)
Explanations in search of observations
11.15-12.15
Petri Ylikoski (University of Tampere) & Emrah Aydinonat (University of Helsinki)
Modelling and the epistemic import of how-possible explanations
12.15-13.30
Lunch
13.30-14.30
MICHAEL WEISBERG (UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA)
Three-sex mating (and other models without targets)
14.30-15.30
Tarja Knuuttila (University of Helsinki) & Andrea Loettgers (California Institute of Technology)
Templates vs. Mechanisms? The Lotka-Volterra model reconsidered
15.30-16.15
END OF DAY DISCUSSION. Chair: Uskali Mäki (Academy of Finland)
19.30-
CONFERENCE DINNER at Walhalla on Suomenlinna
Pre-registration is recommended due to limited availability of seats. Please make your registration by April 30th by contacting Päivi Seppälä (paivi.a.seppala (at) helsinki.fi). Participating in the conference dinner requires registration by April 30th. For further information and abstracts see: www.helsinki.fi/filosofia/tint/events/
Welcome!