Gottlob Frege Lectures in Theoretical Philosophy 2011 David Papineau - Varieties of Naturalism 
http://daniel.cohnitz.de/index.php?frege

Tartu's "Gottlob Frege Lectures in Theoretical Philosophy" will in 2011 be delivered by David Papineau
(King's College, London). The title of this year's lecture series is "Varieties of Naturalism". 
Professor Papieneau is an internationally renowned philosopher, well known for his work on various 
topics, including metaphysics, philosophy of science, and the philosophy of mind and psychology. 
We are happy to have him in Tartu for a three day workshop, June 29-July 1. Everyone interested is
invited to participate.

Participants are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements. For 
registration and further information please email: 
cohnitz@ut.ee and visit our website
http://daniel.cohnitz.de/index.php?frege.

The Lecturer

David Papineau was educated in Trinidad, England, and South Africa. He has a BSc in mathematics 
from the University of Natal and a BA and PhD in philosophy from the Cambridge University. He has 
lectured at Reading University, Macquarie University, Birkbeck College London, and Cambridge University, and since 1990 has been a Professor at King's College London. 
His books include For Science in the Social Sciences (1978), Theory and Meaning (1979), Reality 
and Representation (1987), Philosophical Naturalism (1993), Introducing Consciousness (2000), 
Thinking about Consciousness (2002) and The Roots of Reason (2003). He was President of the British 
Society for the Philosophy of Science from 1993 to 1995 and Editor of the British Journal for the 
Philosophy of Science from 1993 to 1998. In 1999-2000 he was a Leverhulme Research Fellow and in 
2007 a Mind Fellow. He was President of the Mind Association in 2009-10.

The Topic

Over the past fifty years philosophy has increasingly taken a naturalist turn. However, many 
different philosophical positions have enrolled under the banner of naturalism, not all of them 
compatible with each other.

One strand in naturalism is methodological, asserting that the investigative methods of philosophy 
are continuous with those of the natural sciences. Methodological naturalists of this kind deny 
that philosophy depends on conceptual analysis or any other special method of investigation. This 
raises questions about existing philosophical practice and its frequent appeal to 'intuitions'. 
A further issue raised by this species of naturalism is whether the same methodological principles 
apply in all branches of philosophy, including ethics and philosophy of mind.

A distinct strand in naturalism is concerned with ontological issues. 
Ontological naturalists assert that there is nothing in reality beyond the kind of entities studied
by science. For many contemporary naturalists, this involves a commitment to materialism or physicalism.
However, materialism comes in many different strengths, and so it is a matter of debate what this 
commitment amounts to. There are also questions about the implications of materialism for such 
realms as morality, mathematics and mind.

These lectures will explore the different varieties of naturalism and assess their strengths and 
weaknesses.

For further information, please visit our website at http://daniel.cohnitz.de/index.php?frege

The Gottlob Frege Lectures in Theoretical Philosophy are named in honour of the German mathematician
and philosopher Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege. We have chosen Frege as the patron for our lecture 
series as he is widely recognised for his clarity and unpretentious, no-nonsense style of dealing 
with philosophical problems. So are the lecturers we are honoured to host in Tartu.