Generic Generalizations

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Generic Generalizations in Science

Abstract This article maintains that an important class of scientific generalizations should be reinterpreted: they have typically been understood as ceteris paribus laws, but are, in fact, generics. Four arguments are presented to support this thesis. One argument is that the interpretation in terms of ceteris paribus laws is a historical accident. The other three […] Read more

Other events organised by the Chair

The Division of Ideological Labor

  SPeaker Bernhard Nickel, Harvard University, Department of Philosophy Comment Frédérick Guillaume Dufour, UQAM, Department of Sociology ORGANIZATION The event is organized by the Montréal Philosophy of Science Network, the Canada Research Chair in Applied Epistemology and the Centre de recherche interuniversaire sur la science et la technologie (CIRST). ABSTRACT The concept of ideology poses the […] Read more

Other events organised by the Chair

Generic Generalizations: Meaning and Social Practices

The Canada Research Chair in Applied Epistemology is proud to host a workshop on generic generalizations and their social dimension. The worshop will take place on March 16th and 17th at the Université de Sherbrooke (Room A4-166). Presentations will start at 9am and end at 4pm each day. Directions Google maps coordinates HERE.  Keynote Speakers : […] Read more

Internal seminars of the Chair

Two talks: (1) On generics ann (2) On the Variety of Evidence Thesis

Olivier and Jordan, with François as co-speaker, will test the talks that they will give at two events next week: one in Northern Ireland (Jordan and François) and one in Germany (Olivier and François). Our goal is also to let the other members of the team know some of our latest research developments. Papers will […] Read more

Refereed conference

Généralisations génériques et concepts: quel rôle pour l’état du monde?

Abstract (fr): Les généralisations génériques se manifestent sous forme de phrases telles que « Les tigres sont rayés », « Le tigre est rayé » ou « Un tigre est rayé ». Leur caractéristique essentielle est d’attribuer une propriété aux membres d’une catégorie, mais on les reconnait aussi à leur tolérance envers les exceptions, ainsi qu’à leur mutisme quant au nombre […] Read more

Generic Generalizations

Generic generalizations are sentences like "Ravens are black". Fairly common in everyday language, they are often used to convey information about natural and social categories. While some of these uses are legitimate, some are not. This research project aims to better our understanding of generic generalizations, and their uses from a linguistic and epistemological standpoint. […] Read more

Refereed conference

Vers un cadre inférentialiste pour les généralisations génériques

Abstract (fr): Les généralisations génériques sont des énoncés portant sur les membres d’une catégorie (p. ex. « Les corbeaux sont noirs »). En plus de ne pas donner d’information sur le nombre d’instances qu’elles concernent, elles sont hautement résilientes vis-à-vis les exceptions. On remarque également que leurs conditions d’acceptation psychologique ne requièrent qu’un faible pourcentage d’instances concernées […] Read more