Scientific organization:

Raphael van Riel (Bochum)

Markus Eronen (Bochum)

Albert Newen (Bochum)

Martin Carrier (Bielefeld)

The Bielefeld-Bochum Colloquium provides a platform for the exchange of ideas among philosophers 
of the department of philosophy II in Bochum and the department of philosophy in Bielefeld. 
Moreover, internationally renowned philosophers will be invited to participate in lively 
discussions of various topics in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. 
This first session (Saturday, 5^th ) centers around two topics: functional properties and the 
interplay between knowledge and values.

This kick-off event also hosts a one-day workshop on explanatory power (Friday, 4^th ), organized 
by Dr. Markus Eronen and Dr. Raphael van Riel. The notion of explanatory power occurs in a number 
of different contexts: it is tied to the discussion of various topics such as the inference to the 
best explanation, the notion of explanation in general, reduction in the philosophy of mind and 
in the philosophy of science, and modeling in science. Despite its relevance, the notion of 
explanatory power has not gained much attention. The workshop brings together leading researchers 
in this field. The questions addressed include the following: What has explanatory power, i.e., 
what are the bearers of the property of having (a specific degree of) explanatory power? Is there 
more than one dimension of explanatory power? What are the most important applications of the 
notion of explanatory power in the philosophical literature? What is its relation to issues such 
as the inference to the best explanation, the correctness of explanations, causal explanation, 
modeling, and reduction?

This workshop is part of the activities of the Center for Mind, Brain and Cognitive Evolution 
(Ruhr University Bochum).

SPEAKERS

/Workshop on Explanatory Power (Friday, May 4)/

//

Raphael van Riel and Markus Eronen (Bochum)

Jaakko Kuorikoski (Helsinki)

Robert Northcott (London)

Jan Sprenger (Tilburg)

Erik Weber (Ghent)

Petri Ylikoski (Helsinki)

//

/General topics (Saturday, May 5)/

Cameron Buckner (Bochum/Houston)

Maria Kronfeldner (Bielefeld)

Cornelis Menke (Bielefeld)

Raphael van Riel (Bochum)

Markus Werning (Bochum)

**

There is no registration fee; however, as space is rather limited, those who are interested in 
participating are kindly asked to send an email to

raphael.vanriel@rub.de 

by the end of April.

For more information, see the workshop web page:

http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/bobicoll2012/#

--
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Institut für Philosophie II
Sekretariat Prof. Dr. Albert Newen
GA 3/151
Tel.: 0234/32-28139
Fax: 0234/32-14963
http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/staff/newen/
mail to: nadine.overkamp@rub.de