The Legacy of Empiricism: Empiricism Past, Present and Future

Dr George Davie (Reader Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh) has made a significant contribution to the philosophical and intellectual life of Scotland over the past forty years. His influence has been most keenly felt through his work on the philosophical, cultural and educational consequences of the Scottish Enlightenment. To recognise this contribution the Department of Philosophy of the University of Edinburgh, in association with the Scots Philosophical Club, plans to host a conference in his honour between 13-15 September 1996 entitled The Legacy of Empiricism: Empiricism Past, Present and Future.

This conference aims to examine the current direction of and prospects for Empiricism, reflecting upon the significance of its history for its future development. Sessions cover such topics as Evidence, Laws and Causes, Time, Perception and Common Sense, and thinkers such as Locke, Hume, Mill, Husserl, Carnap, Quine. There will be several papers devoted to Thomas Reid, the two hundredth anniversary of whose death falls this year.

SPEAKERS include:

• Ronald Beanblossom (Northern Ohio) Reid and Hume: On the Nature of Belief
• David Bloor (Science Studies, Edinburgh) Three Empiricist Ideas from Hume, Mill and Carnap
• John Campbell (Oxford) to be announced
• Cairns Craig (English Literature) on the Scottish Aesthetic Theorists
• Chris Daly (Oxford) Modality and Acquaintance with Properties
• George Davie (Edinburgh) Five Philosophical Arguments from J.F. Ferrier
• Peter Hacker (Oxford) on Wittgenstein and the synthetic a priori
• Barbara Hannan (New Mexico) Commonsense Empiricism in Reid, Moore and Wittgenstein
• Riku Juti (Helsinki) Berkeley and Husserl
• Billy Lee (Psychology, Edinburgh) Human Visual Memory and Imagery - a Psychophysical Approach
• Keith Lehrer (Arizona) What is Empiricism Anyway?
• John Llewelyn (Edinburgh) Empiricism and Phenomenology
• Duncan Macmillan (Fine Art, Edinburgh) on the influence of empiricism on post-enlightenment art
• Hugh Mellor (Cambridge) Transcendental Tense
• Alan Millar (Stirling) Evidence and the Manifest
• Kevin Mulligan (Geneva) Verificationism before and after World War II
• Stathis Psillos (LSE) Carnap's Adventures in Theory-Land
• John Skorupski (St Andrews) Empiricism without Positivism
• Timothy Sprigge (Edinburgh) Some Phases in the History of Empiricism
• Timothy Williamson (Edinburgh) Evidence and Knowledge

FURTHER INFORMATION: The conference will take place in the David Hume Tower, George Square, Edinburgh, which is on the edge of Edinburgh's Old Town (about 10-15 minutes walk from Edinburgh Castle and Waverley Station). Accomodation is available in the Pollock Halls of Residence near Holyrood Park. Accomodation is limited, but the conference organizers will help those not lodged in the halls of residence to find alternative accomodation.

The above information is provisional - please check this page for the latest information. Full details will be sent to those registering for the conference.

REGISTRATION: For the on-line conference registration form click here.

ORGANIZERS: Dr Alexander Bird and Mr. Richard Foggo