Science Across Cultures:

Historical and Philosophical Perspectives

Helen Tilley and Daniel Garber

 

There was a time when history of science and philosophy of science were natural allies. The philosophy of science was more historically oriented then, and the history of science was more centrally concerned with the texts and issues connected with the great European scientists who were the concern of philosophers of science as well. Both fields have changed considerably in the last twenty-five years. The philosophy of science has become more focused on particular technical problems in the special sciences, while the history of science has increasingly concentrated on cross cultural work and on understanding the place of the sciences (including medicine and technology) in the relations among peoples of the world. To explore new ways in which the history of science can articulate with philosophical inquiry, Princeton’s History of Science program has organized three one-day workshops to examine the theoretical implications of recent research considering science across cultures.

 

Friday, October 24, 2003                                                                                                                               211 Dickinson Hall

 

8:45 a.m.               Coffee and Pastries (210 Dickinson)

 

9:00 a.m.               Competing Cosmologies and the Problem of Contradiction in Sanskrit Knowledge Systems.

Christopher  Minkowski, Cornell University; Commentary: Gary Hatfield, University of Pennsylvania.

 

10:20 a.m.            Coffee Break

 

10:40 a.m.            Plurality and Transition: Knowledge Systems in Nineteenth Century India.

                                David Arnold, SOAS-London; Commentary: Akeel Bilgrami, Columbia University.

 

12:00 p.m.            Lunch (Tower Room, Seventy-Nine Hall)

 

1:30  p.m.             The Role of French Colonialism in Current Vietnamese Attitudes towards Pharmaceuticals.

Laurence Monnais-Rousselot, Université de Montréal; Commentary: David Wong, Duke University.

 

2:50 p.m.              Coffee Break

 

3:10 p.m.              Language, Science and the Organization of Knowledge in Republican China.

                                Bridie Andrews, Harvard University; Commentary: Daniel Garber, Princeton University.

 

4:30 p.m.              Coffee Break

 

4:45 p.m.              Reflections and Final Discussion; General Commentary, Gilbert Harman, Princeton University.

 

Reception

6:30 p.m.              Dinner for all participants, 202 Jones Hall

                                (Please register for dinner with Tina Erdos- terdos@princeton.edu)