Evolvability: A Bridge Between the Proximate and Ultimate?
Lecture
Whilst scientists sometimes attribute the differential diversification, adaptedness, and disparity of lineages to their "evolvability", the exact nature of evolvability is debated. Moreover, the role that evolvability, and appeals to it, should play in our evolutionary science is unclear. This…
Center Indifference and Skepticism - David Builes (Princeton)
Seminar
Speaker: David Builes Many philosophers have been attracted to a restricted version of the principle of indifference in the case of self-locating belief. Roughly speaking, this principle states that, within any given possible world, one should be indifferent between different…
Medical Microbiome Research and Its Parallels with Galenic Medicine
Lecture
Associate Professor Maureen O’Malley (School of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney) will examine some of the problematic concepts in microbiome research from a novel angle. Human microbiomes (the microbial communities in human bodies) have been linked to every bodily and mental…
Australia-New Zealand Philosophy of Biology Workshop
Conference
The A-NZ PhilBio Workshop is a new, regular, mid-year workshop for the philosophy of biology community across Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on highlighting work by postgraduate students, early career researchers and visiting scholars. In 2023 it is hosted by the Centre for Philosophy of…
Is Self-Wronging Superstitious? - Daniel Muñoz
Seminar
Speaker: Daniel Muñoz Duties to oneself have a distinguished history in moral philosophy. They can also smell a bit fishy. To some extent, the defenders of duties to oneself have cleared the air in recent years by developing solutions to the 'paradox of self-release'. But there…
Deterring non-consensual interactions: A non-welfarist approach, applied to sexual harassment - Toby Handfield
Seminar
Speaker: Toby Handfield Some interactions have the following feature: depending on the preferences of those involved, the interaction may make both parties better off (“consensual”), but it could also sometimes be good for one and bad for the other (“non-consensual”). If a social…
TBC - Susanna Siegel
Seminar
Speaker: Susanna Siegel Abstract TBC. Please note that these seminars are open to the public and in person only.