Speaker: Tianyu Cao (Professor, Department of Philosophy, Boston University)

Moderator: Zengyi Zhang (Professor, School of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Time: Thursday, December 12, 2024, 9:30 - 11:00

Venue: Lecture Hall, Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (4th Floor, South Building, Building 4, Software Park, No. 4 Zhongguancun South Street)

Organizer: Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Abstract: What are the objects of natural science, the stage on which they act, and the modes of their activity? These questions form the ontological foundation of the conceptual framework of natural science. As a philosophical abstraction of Newtonian physics, Kant argued that natural science serves as a paradigm for general human cognition, and its conceptual framework constitutes the a priori conditions of scientific (or cognitive) understanding. Neo-Kantian thinkers like Cassirer, and post-Kantian philosophers such as Kuhn and Habermas, historicized and contextualized Kant’s a priori framework, establishing it as a mainstream perspective in Western philosophy of science and epistemology. This lecture will focus on discussing these developments from the perspective of scientific realism. The abstract theoretical discussions will be contextualized through historical examples, particularly the conceptual frameworks of fundamental physics from Einstein to Penrose and recent advances.

Speaker Bio: Tianyu Cao is a Professor of Philosophy at Boston University. His works include Conceptual Development of 20th-Century Field Theory and From Flow Algebra to Quantum Chromodynamics: A Case for Structural Realism. His primary research interests lie in the philosophy and history of science, epistemology, metaphysics, social philosophy, and political philosophy.

Book Launch Seminar: Conceptual Development of 20th-Century Field Theory (Second Edition)

Moderator: Zhiqiang Hu (Professor, School of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Time: Thursday, December 12, 2024, 11:00 - 12:00

Book Introduction: The second edition of Conceptual Development of 20th-Century Field Theory explores the foundational concepts and historical underpinnings of fundamental field theory, shedding light on fundamental problems, logic, and dynamics in fundamental physics. In response to advancements in the field over the past 20 years, this edition has thoroughly revised and rearticulated chapters on quantum field theory and gauge theory. The chapter on ontological synthesis and scientific realism has also been reconsidered, proposing a new approach to scientific realism that transcends both structuralism and historicism.

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