Royal Institute of Philosophy Graduate Conference: Wittgenstein and the Idea of a Social Science

Sponsors:

Royal Institute of Philosophy

Aristotelian Society

​Organisers:

Michael Wee (Durham University); Ruby Main (Durham University)

We are pleased to welcome you to Durham for this exciting graduate student-organised event. Over two days there will be nine talks from speakers at all stages of their career including keynote talks from Rachael Wiseman (Liverpool), Nigel Pleasants (Exeter), and Arif Ahmed (Cambridge). This conference will explore Wittgensteinian perspectives on the philosophy of social science, in order to promote further dialogue between philosophy and the social sciences, and to build on the legacy of Peter Winch and his book The Idea of a Social Science.

Online attendance will be facilitated for those unable to travel to Durham.

Registration for the conference is free for both delegates and speakers.

To book a place, please email wittgenstein.socsci@gmail.com with your name and affiliations. If you intend to attend the subsidised conference dinner please also let us know along with any dietary requirements.

Note: The deadline for registration is Tuesday 1^st November.

Conference Website: https://wittgensteinsocsci.wixsite.com/wittgenstein-soc-sci

PhilEvents Page: https://philevents.org/event/show/102126

Schedule:

Day 1 (11 November)

13.30 – 13.50
Registration; Coffee & Tea 

13.50 – 14.00
Conference Welcome 

14.00 – 14.45
David Chandler (UCL)
Meaningfulness in Social Conventions  

14.45 – 15.30
Martin Magnus Petiz (São Paulo)
Peter Winch’s Idea of a Social Science and its Relation to the Concept of Law

15.30 – 15.45
Coffee & Tea 

15.45 – 17.00
Keynote Lecture: Rachael Wiseman (Liverpool)
Degrees of Understanding: Winch and Midgley on rules, reasons, and the limits of sense  

Day 2 (12 November)

9.30 – 10.00
Coffee & Tea

10.00 – 10.45
Lawrence Espino (UP Diliman)
Three Different Research Paradigms in Social Research: Why We Ought to Be Critical Realists

10.45 – 11.30
Stephen Welch (Durham)
‘Look and See’: Wittgensteinian Implications for Interpretivism, Social Constructionism and Positivism in the Social Sciences

11.30 – 11.45
Coffee & Tea 

11.45 – 13.00
Keynote Lecture: Nigel Pleasants (Exeter)
The Idea of 'Wittgenstein and the Idea of a Social Science'  

13.00 – 14.00
Conference Sandwich Lunch 

14.00 – 14.45
Michel Le Du (Aix-Marseille)
Are Beliefs Social Realities?  

14.45 – 15.30
Amadeusz Just (Warsaw)
Anything but Rules? Rahel Jaeggi and the Concept of Social Practice

15.30 – 15.45
Coffee & Tea 

15.45 – 17.00
Keynote Lecture: Arif Ahmed (Cambridge)
Social Dimensions of Meaning 

17.00 – 17.10
Conference Roundup  

18.30 – 20.30

Conference Dinner (Bowes Dining Room)