Bergen Logical Epistemology Workshop and Masterclass 2019

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:

• Roy Sorensen (Washington University, St. Louis)
• Catarina Dutilh Novaes (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
• Catrin Campbell-Moore (Bristol University)
• Andreas Fjellstad (Universitetet i Bergen)
• Ole Hjortland (Universitetet i Bergen)
• Tomislav Karačić (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
• Xiaoyu Ke (Washington University in St. Louis)
• Ben Martin (Universitetet i Bergen)
• Tore Øgaard (Universitetet i Bergen)
• Walter Pedriali (University of St Andrews)
• Erik Stei (University of Bonn)
• Mack Sullivan (Northern Illinois)

Workshop Schedule

The workshop is organised as part of the European Research Council-funded project The Unknown Science: Understanding the Epistemology of Logic through Practice.

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:

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

In “The ABC of Materialist Dialectics” (1939) Leon Trotsky challenges Aristotle’s reactionary doctrine that A=A. In Atlas Shrugged, the capitalist Ayn Rand defends A=A and its consequent clear-eyed realism.  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’ policy generalizable to all debates about logical constants? Is it viable for any of them?

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’s 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:

• Miriam Bowen (University of Leeds)
• Leonardo Ceragioli (Università di Pisa)
• Evelyn Erickson (Universitetet i Bergen)
• Robby Finley (Columbia University)
• Sanderson Molick (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte)
• Tore Øgaard (Universitetet i Bergen)
• Maria Paola Sforza Fogliani (School for Advanced Studies IUSS Pavia)
• Sindre Søderstrøm (Universitetet i Bergen)
• John Stigall (Columbia State Community College, Tennessee)
• Tamaz Tokhadze (University of Sussex)

Masterclass Schedule

The masterclass is organised as part of the European Research Council-funded project The Unknown Science: Understanding the Epistemology of Logic through Practice.

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

There will also be a workshop dinner on Tuesday 28^th May, costing NOK 400 (roughly €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: https://form.app.uib.no/LDW19

Registration form for the Early-Career Masterclass on Logical Epistemology: https://form.app.uib.no/ECM19 

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

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

Getting to Bergen

The airport for Bergen is called Bergen Flesland, which is just outside of the city. It’s normally just known on flight booking sites as “Bergen”.

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’re using to look up flights doesn’t do this automatically for you, it’s worth looking up which of these changes is the most convenient/cheapest.

From the airport, it’s 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 €3.5, and the flybussen around €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) into the email, who can confirm this is the case. Rates vary, but one can normally get a room for around €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 €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 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday have been moved to Auditorium A, Sydneshaugen skole, Sydnesplassen 9, 5007 Bergen. The Thursday masterclass sessions will still be in the Philosophy Department, Sydnesplassen 12/13, seminar-/meeting room at the ground floor.

The department itself is in Sydnesplass, on the top of a hill next to Johanneskirken (the big red church—you can’t miss it!). The main venue, Sydneshaugen skole, is just behind the church (in a yellow building).