Perpetual Experiment: Epistemologies of Experiment in Science and Culture
Format: Hybrid
Language: Russian, English
Moderators: Nadezhda Valeeva (SAS UTMN student), Nastya Volobueva (SAS UTMN alumni, independent researcher), Anna Morzhevilova (SAS UTMN student)
Language: Russian, English
Moderators: Nadezhda Valeeva (SAS UTMN student), Nastya Volobueva (SAS UTMN alumni, independent researcher), Anna Morzhevilova (SAS UTMN student)
Abstract
The section, both practice- and research-oriented, aims at examining what does «experiment» mean today and establishing both links and discontinuities between definitions of the experimental in different spheres of life and fields of study. Scientific experimentation and experimental art, like experimental music and poetry, experimental method in the social sciences, experimental philosophy, experimental education—how do they differ and, more importantly, in what ways do they resemble each other?
In How Experiments End? (1987), Peter Galison, a historian of physics, asks the question: if an experiment has no logical point of termination by definiton, how do we know that an experiment is to be concluded? And, in trying to answer this question, we run into an obstacle: the definition of experiment within disciplines is constantly changing or even completely inverted when the experimental method moves from one discipline to another. In addition, often out of scientific context, we use the notion of experimentality to indicate novelty; thus, the notion of «experimental» itself resists attempts at periodization or definition.
For our panel, we invite researchers (and other experimentalists!) to talk about individual experiments in order to reflect on themes surrounding the notion of experimentally: what is the experimental method today? What do definitions of experimental from different scientific fields have in common? How has the definition of experimental changed over time, and how do modern definitions reflect the new challenges in the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, education, and culture?
A separate part of the section is devoted to failures as a part of the experimental method. How does the notion of failure transform as the concept of experimentation moves from research to practice? What determines interpretations of experimental results—especially those with contingent outcomes?
In How Experiments End? (1987), Peter Galison, a historian of physics, asks the question: if an experiment has no logical point of termination by definiton, how do we know that an experiment is to be concluded? And, in trying to answer this question, we run into an obstacle: the definition of experiment within disciplines is constantly changing or even completely inverted when the experimental method moves from one discipline to another. In addition, often out of scientific context, we use the notion of experimentality to indicate novelty; thus, the notion of «experimental» itself resists attempts at periodization or definition.
For our panel, we invite researchers (and other experimentalists!) to talk about individual experiments in order to reflect on themes surrounding the notion of experimentally: what is the experimental method today? What do definitions of experimental from different scientific fields have in common? How has the definition of experimental changed over time, and how do modern definitions reflect the new challenges in the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, education, and culture?
A separate part of the section is devoted to failures as a part of the experimental method. How does the notion of failure transform as the concept of experimentation moves from research to practice? What determines interpretations of experimental results—especially those with contingent outcomes?
- Galison, P. (1987). How Experiments End? University of Chicago Press.
Main topics
- Philosophy of science and intellectual histories. What is an experiment? In what ways have the definitions of an experiment changed? How do approaches to experiment differ in the natural and social sciences and humanities? What changes in the technology and methodology of science have contributed to the contemporary rethinking of experimentation?
- Practitioners and case-study. How have social and natural science, humanities, education, and art experiments looked and what are they like today? What can we infer about the definitions and limitations of experimentation from descreet cases of experimentation? How can specific examples of successful and unsuccessful experiments in different fields contribute to a better understanding of the methodology of experimentation?
- Limitations of the experimental method. What are the main theoretical and practical limitations of the experimental method in different disciplines? Are there possibilities that lie outside the experimental method and how can they be explored by other means? What errors and failures have migrated outside of the scientific context along with experimentation?
Apply
The application form includes the name of the speaker, Institution, topic of the report and an abstract (up to 500 words).
Participants should send these data to perpetualexperiment2025@gmail.com.
Applications for participation in the conference will be accepted
until 28 February.
*We have simplified the process of preparing the conference proceedings. To publish your work, please send an extended abstract to the email address of your panel's organizers and indicate your intention to publish in the email. Please note that submissions will undergo a selection process, more details at the following link.
Participants should send these data to perpetualexperiment2025@gmail.com.
Applications for participation in the conference will be accepted
until 28 February.
*We have simplified the process of preparing the conference proceedings. To publish your work, please send an extended abstract to the email address of your panel's organizers and indicate your intention to publish in the email. Please note that submissions will undergo a selection process, more details at the following link.
Контакты
vectors@universitas.ru
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