Organized by Claude Debru (ENS Paris), Martin Carrier (Bielefeld University), Johannes Lenhard (Bielefeld University).

General Information

Often science is simply taken as describing facts in an objective manner. However, values influence the process of knowledge production in a number of ways. Five kinds of values are of particular relevance: epistemic, economic, aesthetic, ethical, and social values. Epistemic or cognitive values refer to how science seeks for truth, explanation, or understanding. Eco-nomic values commit science to contribute to technological progress or general wealth. Aesthetical values introduce criteria like harmony or elegance that are used both in science internally and also in forming the image of science in the public. Ethical values are con-cerned with standards of health or freedom, while social values include claims for participa-tion or protection against discrimination.

The spring school will discuss how and to what extent

• science implies or contains values,
• scientific knowledge influences values,
• values have an impact on scientific knowledge claims.

The spring school will focus on how science contributes to – and at the same time potentially limits – cultural identity and also on the interrelations between science and society, espe-cially as they are shaped by requiring relevance for applications.

The spring school is linked to the French-German Master’s Program “Études sur les sci-ences/-Wissenschaftsforschung.” Both the course program and the spring school are sup-ported by the French-German University. The language of instruction is English.

Program

The spring school will run Monday morning (April 20) through Friday afternoon. The schedule contains two sessions per day that will be jointly organized by two teachers from (preferably) different countries and disciplines. It will also comprise an evening lecture and an excursion.
The teaching stuff includes Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent (Paris X, History and Philosophy), Justin Biddle (Bielefeld, Philosophy), Alfons Bora (Bielefeld, Sociology), Mark Brown (Bielefeld, Sociology), Martin Carrier (Bielefeld, Philosophy), Claude Debru (ENS Paris, Philosophy), Maria Kronfeldner (Bielefeld, Philosophy), Alain Leplège (Paris VII, Philoso-phy), Johannes Lenhard (Bielefeld, Philosophy), Cornelis Menke (Bielefeld, Philosophy), Carsten Reinhardt (Bielefeld, History), Peter Weingart (Bielefeld, Sociology).
The evening lecture will be delivered by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.

Participation

Students interested in participating are requested to register in advance with Frau Kurz (lkurz@philosophie.uni-bielefeld.de). Participation is free, but a financial contribution of 100 Euros (30 Euros for local participants) to the meals and the excursion is required.
A limited number of fellowships is available for students from France and Germany which should be sufficient to cover their travel expenses. Accommodation will be booked by the organizers. Applications should contain a CV and a letter of motivation and should be sent in electronic form to Frau Kurz.
Deadline for application is Feb 28, 2009.
For further information or questions, please contact Johannes Lenhard
(johannes.lenhard@uni-bielefeld.de).