Perspectives on Science seminar: Corey Dethier 31.10.

In the next Perspectives on Science seminar, Corey Dethier (Leibniz Universität Hannover) will give a talk on “How should the IPCC present uncertainty?”.

The seminar takes place online via Zoom from 14:15 to 15:45 on the 31st of October. To join the seminar, please contact jessica.north@helsinki.fi for the Zoom invitation.

Perspectives on Science is a weekly research seminar which brings together experts from science studies and philosophy of science. It is organized by TINT – Centre for Philosophy of Social Science at the University of Helsinki. More information about the seminar here.

Abstract:

At present, the IPCC has a unique two-tier method for communicating uncertainty: claims about (e.g.) future warming are qualified using both “likelihood” and “confidence” scales. Recently, however, a number of climate scientists have called attention to the weaknesses of this method, arguing that it is confusing, hard to understand, and used in different ways by different author groups. In this talk, I consider what a better alternative might look like. I begin by arguing that good science communication is like good science modeling: it highlights or emphasizes what’s important by abstracting away from the unimportant. The IPCC’s current approach can be thought of as emphasizing two features of the IPCC’s knowledge: the degree of imprecision or uncertainty and origins of imprecision or uncertainty. I suggest that there are reasons why we should prioritize emphasizing imprecision, but that the origins of uncertainty are less important. Finally, I consider a few different options for capturing imprecision and consider some broader lessons for science communication. 

Author bio:

Corey Dethier is postdoctoral fellow at Leibniz Universität Hannover with the research group “Integrating Ethics and Epistemology of Science.” His work focuses on uncertainty in climate science and how can and should respond to it.

26.10. Seminar on the Economics Nobel Prize 2022

TINT seminar on the Economics Nobel Prize 2022 with two speakers: Refet Gürkaynak from Bilkent University and Hannu Vartiainen from the University of Helsinki. The titles of their talks below.

“The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2022″
Refet Gürkaynak (Bilkent University)

“Why this year’s Prize is interesting from a modelling perspective”
Hannu Vartiainen (University of Helsinki)

The seminar takes place online via Zoom on the 26th of October 2022, from 14:00 onwards.

Perspectives on Science seminar: N. Emrah Aydinonat 17.10.

In the next Perspectives on Science seminar, N. Emrah Aydinonat (University of Helsinki) will give a talk on “The puzzle of model-based explanations”.

The seminar takes place online via Zoom from 14:15 to 15:45 on the 17th of October. To join the seminar, please contact jessica.north@helsinki.fi for the Zoom invitation.

Perspectives on Science is a weekly research seminar which brings together experts from science studies and philosophy of science. It is organized by TINT – Centre for Philosophy of Social Science at the University of Helsinki. More information about the seminar here.

Abstract:

Almost everyone agrees that one of the many functions of scientific models is the help scientists explain real-world phenomena. Nevertheless, there is no agreement about how models perform this function. How do models explain? What is the relation between models and explanations? Can idealized models, which contain falsehoods, provide true explanations? This talk gives a brief overview of the philosophical literature on the so-called model explanations and outlines a framework to understand the explanatory role of idealized models.

Author bio:

N. Emrah Aydinonat (PhD, Docent) is a researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki and TINT – Centre for Philosophy of Social Science. He is one of the chief editors of the Journal of Economic Methodology (w/ J. Vromen). He is a member of the board of directors of the International Network for Economic Method (INEM)the editorial board of the History of Economic Ideas and the International Advisory Board of The Review of Evolutionary Political Economy (REPE). He is the author of The Invisible Hand in Economics (Routledge, 2008) and the co-editor of Economics Made Fun: Philosophy of the pop-economics (Routledge, 2015). Aydinonat is currently working on an Academy of Finland research project entitled Economics as Serviceable Social Knowledge (ESSK) led by Uskali Mäki at University of Helsinki. More information at http://neaydinonat.com