SPSP 2020 International Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice Abstracts of Research Accepted for Presentation* at SPSP 2020 *Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the 8th biennial conference of the Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice, scheduled to take place at Michigan State University in July 2020, was cancelled. Prior to cancellation, conference submissions had been reviewed and the list of accepted research was finalized. This booklet contains abstracts of all research accepted for presentation at SPSP 2020, except in cases where an author preferred that their abstract not be published. Table of Contents I. About SPSP ...................................................................................................... 3 II. Organising Committees .................................................................................... 4 III. SPSP Statement on the Covid-19 Pandemic.................................................... 5 IV. Abstracts of Symposia ...................................................................................... 6 V. Abstracts of Contributed Talks ........................................................................49 2 I. About SPSP Philosophy of science has traditionally focused on the relation between scientific theories and the world, at the risk of disregarding scientific practice. In social studies of science and technology, the predominant tendency has been to pay attention to scientific practice and its relation to theories, sometimes willfully disregarding the world except as a product of social construction. Both approaches have their merits, but they each offer only a limited view, neglecting some essential aspects of science. We advocate a philosophy of scientific practice, based on an analytic framework that takes into consideration theory, practice and the world simultaneously. The direction of philosophy of science we advocate is not entirely new: naturalistic philosophy of science, in concert with philosophical history of science, has often emphasized the need to study scientific practices; doctrines such as Hacking's "experimental realism" have viewed active intervention as the surest path to the knowledge of the world; pragmatists, operationalists and late-Wittgensteinians have attempted to ground truth and meaning in practices. Nonetheless, the concern with practice has always been somewhat outside the mainstream of English-language philosophy of science. We aim to change this situation, through a conscious and organized programme of detailed and systematic study of scientific practice that does not dispense with concerns about truth and rationality. Practice consists of organized or regulated activities aimed at the achievement of certain goals. Therefore, the epistemology of practice must elucidate what kinds of activities are required in generating knowledge. Traditional debates in epistemology (concerning truth, fact, belief, certainty, observation, explanation, justification, evidence, etc.) may be re- framed with benefit in terms of activities. In a similar vein, practice-based treatments will also shed further light on questions about models, measurement, experimentation, etc., which have arisen with prominence in recent decades from considerations of actual scientific work. There are some salient aspects of our general approach that are worth highlighting here. 1. We are concerned with not only the acquisition and validation of knowledge, but its use. Our concern is not only about how pre-existing knowledge gets applied to practical ends, but also about how knowledge itself is fundamentally shaped by its intended use. We aim to build meaningful bridges between the philosophy of science and the newer fields of philosophy of technology and philosophy of medicine; we also hope to provide fresh perspectives for the latter fields. 2. We emphasize how human artifacts, such as conceptual models and laboratory instruments, mediate between theories and the world. We seek to elucidate the role that these artifacts play in the shaping of scientific practice. 3. Our view of scientific practice must not be distorted by lopsided attention to certain areas of science. The traditional focus on fundamental physics, as well as the more recent focus on certain areas of biology, will be supplemented by attention to other fields such as economics and other social/human sciences, the engineering sciences, and the medical sciences, as well as relatively neglected areas within biology, physics, and other physical sciences. 4. In our methodology, it is crucial to have a productive interaction between philosophical reasoning and a study of actual scientific practices, past and present. This provides a strong rationale for history-and-philosophy of science as an integrated discipline, and also for inviting the participation of practicing scientists, engineers and policymakers. 3 II. Organising Committees While we did not hold a meeting in 2020, the SPSP Steering and Organizing Committees invested considerable work in preparing for SPSP 2020, including setting up the call for papers, reviewing conference abstracts and finalising the conference programme. Pre- pandemic, the Local Organising Committee had already committed substantial time and resources, including completing extensive fundraising activities, reserving accommodations, booking venues, and coordinating other necessary preparations for the conference and its local hosting. These committees also worked together in making the difficult decisions regarding the unfeasibility of convening the 8th biennial conference during the pandemic. Thanks to all for their service. 1. SPSP Steering Committee Chiara Ambrosio, Justin Biddle, Julia Bursten, Till Grüne-Yanoff, Catherine Kendig, Sabina Leonelli, Alan Love, Matthew Lund, Joseph Rouse, Eric Weber 2. Organising Committee of the 2020 Conference of SPSP Chiara Ambrosio, Justin Biddle, Julia Bursten, Till Grüne-Yanoff, Sabina Leonelli, Alan Love, Matthew Lund, Joseph Rouse, Eric Weber (programme chair) 3. Local Organising Committee of SPSP/SRPoiSE 2020 Catherine Kendig, Kevin Elliott, Sean Valles (co-chairs) Robert Pennock, Michael O’Rourke, Arthur Ward, Gregory Lusk, Isaac Record, Eleanor Louson, Heather Douglas, Ted Richards, and Robyn Blum Additionally, the SPSP committee is grateful to the organising committee of the Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (SRPoiSE) for its enthusiasm in working together with us to ensure co-hosting and overlap between the two conferences. We are sorry to lose this carefully orchestrated opportunity for exchange and hope it will be possible to re-organise it in the future. 4 III. SPSP Statement on the Covid-19 Pandemic It is with great sorrow that we had to first postpone and then cancel the 8th biennial conference of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP), which was originally scheduled for 7-10 July 2020. The timing of the COVID-19 outbreak, which became a pandemic at the same time as the programme for this conference was being finalised, made international travel to the conference impossible for the vast majority of delegates, including the steering committee and keynote speakers. Additionally, the local organizers at Michigan State University faced insurmountable practical obstacles, just like the organizers at any other institution would face under the current circumstances. For a conference scheduled in July 2021, several arrangements would have had to be made before the end of 2020. Rooms for sessions had to be booked and lodging for participants had to be reserved. This was impossible, because hosted events on campus were forbidden at MSU at least until early 2021. Another important element was that the numerous pre-pandemic options available in 2019 and early 2020 for local fundraising at MSU became much more restricted, despite valiant efforts by the local organising team in pre-Covid19 times. This meant that the registration fee would have had to be significantly higher than intended, at a time where the majority of research institutions are freezing their research and travel budget. This would have sharply curtailed the number of participants who would have been able to participate in an in-person SPSP conference. These and other problems were not specific to MSU. If another department in the US or a different country considered taking over for MSU, issues of public health safety, equity, and financial austerity measures or similar problems would have arisen. This meant that a real, on campus SPSP conference that was both safe and inclusive was not possible in 2021. We have considered an online conference, but have decided against it. An online meeting requires human and financial resources (e.g., for paying an online platform and hiring support staff to monitor the sessions) that SPSP as a society does not have at this moment, especially at such short notice and in a climate of serious financial restrictions. We wish to thank all our delegates for submitting wonderful abstracts, all the many people who helped us to set up this meeting, our webmaster Michel Durinx, and the excellent keynotes who had accepted to present at this conference: Till Grüne-Yanoff, Kristie Dotson, Sean A. Valles, Kylie Whyte and Karen Barad. The steering committee will monitor the ongoing pandemic situation and discuss plans for the future over the coming months, with the goal of deciding when it is safer to schedule the next in-person meeting. In the meantime, we welcome feedback and informal