The Institute Vienna Circle and the Vienna Circle Society cordially invite
you to the
33rd Vienna Circle Lecture
Lydia Patton (Virginia Tech)
Testing Scientific Theories
Thursday, December 11, 2025
5 pm
Aula am Campus
University of Vienna
Hof 1, Eingang 1.11
Spitalgasse 2-4
1090 Vienna
Registration for the event in Vienna: <mailto:vcs@univie.ac.at>
vcs(a)univie.ac.at
No registration fee
Abstract
What scientists call 'post-data analysis' is often considered to be a purely
statistical process separate from theory. Data gathered from experiment is
analyzed to determine whether the experiment yields a genuine result.
Scientific theories are more often associated with earlier phases of
scientific testing, as in Popper's account based on framing bold conjectures
before setting up experiments and gathering data. This talk will motivate an
account of scientific theory testing that incorporates not just hypothesis
generation and experiment, but also post-data analysis. Theories provide
essential frameworks for post-data analysis, by setting standards for
measurement and inference, for instance. Theories are truly tested in the
post-data phase as well. I draw on insights from Hermann Cohen, Ernst
Cassirer, and Rudolf Carnap regarding the clarification and interpretation
of scientific theories in the context of the 'fact of science'. Moving
beyond these accounts, I argue that evaluating theories in the context of
existing results is crucial not just to interpreting theories, but to
testing them as well. Drawing on Adam Koberinski's account of generalized
frameworks in physics, I develop an account of theory testing that
incorporates post-data analysis. The perhaps surprising consequence is that,
under the right conditions, one can test a theory even with old results.
Short Bio
Lydia Patton is Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Tech. Patton's research
focuses on the development of scientific theories, methods, and practices,
and has appeared in venues including The Monist, Synthese, Kant-Studien,
Historia Mathematica, and Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern
Physics. Patton has served as Editor in Chief of HOPOS and currently edits
two book series. In 2022 she was John N. Findlay Visiting Professor at
Boston University.
As part of the conference
The Form of Science - Philosophy of Science in neo-Kantianism
December 10-12, 2025
University of Vienna - Main Building
Organized by:
Georg Schiemer and Moritz Bodner (University of Vienna, ERC Project: "The
Formal Turn - The Emergence of Formalism in Twentieth-Century Thought")
https://formalism.phl.univie.ac.at/events/international-conference-the-form-
of-science/
Dear all,
our next speaker in the Philosophy of Science Colloquium organized by
the Institute Vienna Circle is Jose Alejandro Fernandez Cuesta
(Complutense University of Madrid), who will give a talk on November 13,
4.45-6.15 pm.
All are welcome!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Philosophy of Science Colloquium TALK: Jose Alejandro Fernandez Cuesta
(Complutense University of Madrid)*
Quantum Propositions and Logical Monism
Philosophy of Science Colloquium
The Institute Vienna Circle holds a Philosophy of Science Colloquium
with talks by our present fellows.
*Date:* 13/11/2025
*Time:*16h45
*Venue:*New Institute Building (NIG), Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien, HS 2i
*Abstract:*
In this talk, I will briefly present the formalism of standard quantum
logics (QLs) and examine /sui generis/ features that seem to set them
apart from other non‑classical logics. I will focus on their being
plausibly "discovered" and on their apparent lack of interpretative
utility in the philosophy of physics. On the usual presentation, QLs are
introduced via a set of experimental propositions ("physical
qualities"), informally specified in natural language as a response to
these peculiarities; this apparatus has been used to draw a tenuous link
between the semantics of QLs and the interpretation of certain
experimentally obtained yet conceptually problematic results in quantum
mechanics. I argue that this apparatus is philosophically relevant only
under a prior commitment to logical monism –indeed, logical monism holds
iff the experimental‑propositions apparatus is in place– and I offer
several critiques of both. Rejecting both the monist commitment and the
apparatus allows a reassessment of the sui generis properties of QLs and
their philosophical interpretation.
by Initiative to Support Women in Academic Philosophy
Dear all,
the termino has spoken and we found a date & venue for the December
Stammtisch of UPSalon - a Salon for Underrepresented Philosophers!
Please save the date:
Thursday, December 4th at 20:00, Café Weingartner. [1]
At the meeting, we will exchange our experiences, discuss our future
activites, and play a round of Billiard if we feel like it!
UPSalon are a group of students, doctoral and post-doctoral researchers
at the department of philosophy; the initiative aims at creating a space
and community in Vienna where underrepresented philosophers - such as
women, trans, inter and non-binary persons, BIPOC, socioeconomically
disadvantaged people, queer people, and people with disabilities - can
connect on a regular basis.
For more information, check out our website [2]!
We are very much looking forward to meeting all of you other
underrepresented philosophers!
Do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions you may have.
Best regards,
UPSalon
Mail: upsalon.philosophy(a)univie.ac.at
Web: https://upsalon.univie.ac.at
Links:
------
[1] https://www.weingartner.co.at/
[2] https://upsalon.univie.ac.at/
Liebe alle,
es ist eine große Freude, euch zur nächsten Trans*Formations
Veranstaltung am Institut für Philosophie einzuladen.
Der Workshop Trans*Modernität, Trans Kolonialität? wird am 11.12.2025
von 16:45 bis 18:45 im HS 3A, NIG (Universitätsstraße 7) von Dr. Jonah
I. Garde (UBC) gehalten.
Derzeit gibt es noch sechs Plätze! Da vor dem Workshop Texte zu lesen
sind, wird um eine rasche Anmeldung über U:Cris unter diesem Link [1]
gebeten.
Danke an die Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy [2] (VDP) für ihre
finanzielle Unterstützung!
Abstract:
Was hat trans* Geschichte mit Kolonialgeschichte zu tun und welche
kolonialen Spuren finden wir in heutigen Vorstellungen und Praktiken
rund um Geschlecht, Körper und Identität? Inwiefern ist die
Pathologisierung von trans* Körpern ein Produkt der Moderne und was
bedeutete es, diese Fragen im österreichischen Kontext zu stellen?
Vor dem Hintergrund der kürzlich erschienen Monographie _Trans*
Geschichten der Moderne_ (transcript, 2025), werden Teilnehmer_innen
zwei kurze Texte lesen, die sich mit den verwobenen Geschichten von
Geschlecht, (Siedlungs-)Kolonialismus und Moderne beschäftigen.
Gemeinsam werden wir diskutieren, was die Anerkennung dieser
Verflechtungen für trans Aktivismen und Politiken in der Gegenwart und
in unserem jeweiligen Kontext bedeutet.
Bio:
Dr. Jonah I. Garde ist Banting Postdoctoral Fellow am Department for
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies an der University of
British Columbia. Garde promovierte 2023 an der Universität Bern im Fach
Gender Studies und forscht an der Schnittstelle von Trans Studies,
Cultural Studies, Geschichte, Erinnerungspolitik und Affekten.
Der Workshop richtet sich an Studierende und Lehrende unabhängig ihres
vorherigen Erfahrungsstandes und wird auf Deutsch stattfinden. Vor dem
Workshop werden die im Abstract genannten Texte an die Teilnehmer*innen
ausgeschickt.
Anmeldung über u:rise unter diesem LINK [1].
Für Snacks und Getränke wird gesorgt!
Anbei findet sich auch ein Poster für die Veranstaltung, wir freuen uns,
wenn dieses sowie die Einladung an andere Interessierte weitergeleitet
wird!
Am 3.12. 2025 wird Jonah I. Garde außerdem um 18:30 im QWien [3], Wiens
queerem Kulturzentrum, das Buch _Trans* Geschichten der Moderne_
(transcript, 2025) präsentieren, auch hierzu eine herzliche Einladung
[4]!
Mit lieben Grüßen,
Flora Löffelmann im Namen des Organisationsteams
--
Flora Löffelmann, MA MA
Stipendiat:in der Literar Mechana
Department of Philosophy
University of Vienna
Pronouns: they/them (for more info see:
https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why/)
Happy about a gender neutral "hello"!
Links:
------
[1]
https://urise.univie.ac.at/mod/booking/optionview.php?optionid=1755&cmi…
[2] https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/
[3] https://www.qwien.at/
[4] https://www.qwien.at/veranstaltungen/transgeschichten-jonah-i-garde/
Liebe Alle,
Am Dienstag, den 25.11, um 18 Uhr im Raum 3A findet der lang ersehnte
Neustart unserer Veranstaltungsreihe "Werkstatt Phänomenologie" statt. Als
Forum für (Nachwuchs-)Wissenschaftler:innen werden eigene Vorträge und
Texte vorgestellt und gemeinsam besprochen. Das Programm für die nächsten
Termine finden Sie im Anhang dieser Mail.
Wir freuen uns, Sie bei uns begrüßen zu können.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Forschungskreis Phänomenologie
i.A. Georg Harfensteller
Dear All,
The next talk in the "Wittgenstein=steine" series is this Friday (June
13th) at 3pm in room NIG 3D.
The speaker is Konstantin Deininger, and his title is:
_"On the Material and Formal Aspects of (Moral) Certainty"_.
Abstract:
Does morality have a binding character in the sense that chains of
justification come to an end? In this talk, I will affirm this question
and argue that we can plausibly distinguish between formal and material
aspects of moral certainty. As a starting point, I will interpret
Wittgenstein's idea of "bedrock," introduced in §217 of the
Philosophical Investigations, as standing for the end of a chain of
reasoning. In doing so, I align with certain Wittgensteinian
interpreters who maintain that some chains of moral reasoning end with
certainty. However, I will arrive at deviating conclusions by
demonstrating that different kinds of moral certainties function in
different ways. Wittgensteinian scholars such as Cora Diamond and Nigel
Pleasants correctly identify the formal aspect of moral certainty,
showing that some propositions resist justification and doubt. However,
the candidates for formal certainties they propose do not fully satisfy
the criteria of certainty. This, I argue, is due to their failure to
adequately distinguish between the formal and material aspects of
certainty. Material certainties, such as Diamond's "slavery is unjust
and insupportable" or Pleasants' "killing is wrong," remain intelligible
to some extent and are thus subject to justification and doubt. Still,
these propositions function as regress stoppers by putting an end to the
chain of reasoning--but they do not mark the boundary of the
unintelligible as formal certainties do. Drawing on Wittgenstein's later
writings, I will argue that only formal certainties--which I refer to as
transcendental certainties--are entirely exempt from justification and
doubt. I identify the principle "equals are to be treated equally" as a
plausible candidate for transcendental certainty. This certainty is
foundational to moral reasoning and enables moral thought. I illustrate
its role through debates on justice in animal ethics.
Everybody welcome!
Best wishes from the organizers,
Esther Heinrich-Ramharter
Anja Weiberg
Martin Kusch
Liebe alle,
wir laden herzlich zur nächsten Fakultätsöffentlichen Präsentation von Dissertationsprojekten (FöP) ein.
Die Veranstaltung findet am Mittwoch, den 3. Dezember 2025, um 13:15 Uhr im Seminarraum 3A (NIG, 3. Stock) statt.
Im Anschluss an die Präsentationen laden wir herzlich zu einem gemeinsamen Austausch bei einem Buffet ein.
Das Catering wird mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy (VDP) ermöglicht.
Programm:
13:15 Uhr:
Isis Daras, BA MA
The Shadows of Nihilism:
Uncritical Submission to Meaning in Nietzsche, Camus and Patočka
Betreuung:
Mag. Dr. Michael Staudigl, Privatdoz.
Mag. Dr. Sandra Lehmann, Privatdoz.
13:45 Uhr:
Dr. iur. Max Cornelson, MA
Rechtsnorm und ethische Geltung.
Grundzüge einer schlusslogischen Rechtsbegründung
Betreuung:
tit. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Kurt Walter Zeidler, Privatdoz.
Univ.-Prof. Dr. iur. Anne Kühler, BA LL.M.,
Wir freuen uns sehr auf Ihre Teilnahme!
Die Einladung kann gerne an interessierte Personen weitergeleitet werden.
Mit herzlichen Grüßen
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Benjamin Schnieder
Studienprogrammleitung Doktoratsstudium Philosophie (SPL 43)
***
Dear all,
We warmly invite you to the upcoming Public Faculty Presentation of Dissertation Projects (FöP).
The event will take place on Wednesday, 3 December 2025, at 1:15 p.m., in Seminar Room 3A (NIG, 3rd floor).
Following the presentations, we warmly invite you to join us for a buffet reception.
The catering is kindly supported by the Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy (VDP).
Programme:
1:15 p.m.
Isis Daras, BA MA
The Shadows of Nihilism:
Uncritical Submission to Meaning in Nietzsche, Camus and Patočka
Supervision:
Mag. Dr. Michael Staudigl, Privatdoz.
Mag. Dr. Sandra Lehmann, Privatdoz.
1:45 p.m.
Dr. iur. Max Cornelson, MA
Rechtsnorm und ethische Geltung.
Grundzüge einer schlusslogischen Rechtsbegründung
Supervision:
tit. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Kurt Walter Zeidler, Privatdoz.
Univ.-Prof. Dr. iur. Anne Kühler, BA LL.M.
We are very much looking forward to your participation!
Please feel free to share this invitation with anyone who may be interested.
With best wishes,
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Benjamin Schnieder
Director of the Doctoral Program in Philosophy (SPL 43)
Liebe alle,
es ist eine große Freude, euch zur nächsten Trans*Formations
Veranstaltung am Institut für Philosophie einzuladen.
Der Workshop Trans*Modernität, Trans Kolonialität? wird am 11.12.2025
von 16:45 bis 18:45 im HS 3A, NIG (Universitätsstraße 7) von Dr. Jonah
I. Garde (UBC) gehalten.
Danke an die Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy [1] (VDP) für ihre
finanzielle Unterstützung!
Abstract:
Was hat trans* Geschichte mit Kolonialgeschichte zu tun und welche
kolonialen Spuren finden wir in heutigen Vorstellungen und Praktiken
rund um Geschlecht, Körper und Identität? Inwiefern ist die
Pathologisierung von trans* Körpern ein Produkt der Moderne und was
bedeutete es, diese Fragen im österreichischen Kontext zu stellen?
Vor dem Hintergrund der kürzlich erschienen Monographie _Trans*
Geschichten der Moderne_ (transcript, 2025), werden Teilnehmer_innen
zwei kurze Texte lesen, die sich mit den verwobenen Geschichten von
Geschlecht, (Siedlungs-)Kolonialismus und Moderne beschäftigen.
Gemeinsam werden wir diskutieren, was die Anerkennung dieser
Verflechtungen für trans Aktivismen und Politiken in der Gegenwart und
in unserem jeweiligen Kontext bedeutet.
Bio:
Dr. Jonah I. Garde ist Banting Postdoctoral Fellow am Department for
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies an der University of
British Columbia. Garde promovierte 2023 an der Universität Bern im Fach
Gender Studies und forscht an der Schnittstelle von Trans Studies,
Cultural Studies, Geschichte, Erinnerungspolitik und Affekten.
Der Workshop richtet sich an Studierende und Lehrende unabhängig ihres
vorherigen Erfahrungsstandes und wird auf Deutsch stattfinden. Vor dem
Workshop werden die im Abstract genannten Texte an die Teilnehmer*innen
ausgeschickt.
Anmeldung über u:rise unter diesem LINK [2].
Für Snacks und Getränke wird gesorgt!
Anbei findet sich auch ein Poster für die Veranstaltung, wir freuen uns,
wenn dieses sowie die Einladung an andere Interessierte weitergeleitet
wird!
Am 3.12. 2025 wird Jonah I. Garde außerdem um 18:30 im QWien [3], Wiens
queerem Kulturzentrum, das Buch _Trans* Geschichten der Moderne_
(transcript, 2025) präsentieren, auch hierzu eine herzliche Einladung
[4]!
Mit lieben Grüßen,
Flora Löffelmann im Namen des Organisationsteams
--
Flora Löffelmann, MA MA
Stipendiat:in der Literar Mechana
Department of Philosophy
University of Vienna
Pronouns: they/them (for more info see:
https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why/)
Happy about a gender neutral "hello"!
Links:
------
[1] https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/
[2]
https://urise.univie.ac.at/mod/booking/optionview.php?optionid=1755&cmi…
[3] https://www.qwien.at/
[4] https://www.qwien.at/veranstaltungen/transgeschichten-jonah-i-garde/
Guten Tag! Wir möchten Sie über die folgende Veranstaltung informieren, die
vor Ort am Institut für Philosophie stattfindet:
***
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, liebe Kollegen/innen,
Im Folgenden eine Information über die Veranstaltung des KoPhil-Vereins
an folgendem Abend:
DO.27. November 2025, 18:30, HS 3G
Institut für Philosophie der Universität Wien
1010 Wien, Universitätsstr. 7 (NIG) 2. Stock
Vortrag mit Diskussion von Dr. Werner TITELBACH:
Daoismus Bewusstsein und artificial intelligence
Zhuangzis Technikkritik im Hinblick auf neue Technologien
Organisiert von: Verein für Komparative Philosophie und
Interdisziplinäre Bildung / KoPhil
Eintritt frei
Näheres finden Sie im Attachment sowie unter
https://www.kophil-interdis.at/pages/aktuelle-termine.php
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Präsidium des Vereins für Komparative Philosophie
und Interdisziplinäre Bildung / KoPhil
https://www.kophil-interdis.at
Summer School
Call for Applications
(Deadline: February 15, 2026)
24th univie: summer school Scientific World Conceptions (USS-SWC)
GLOBAL HEALTH
Vienna, July 6-10, 2026
https://summerschool-ivc.univie.ac.at/
Course Description
Global health has attracted wide attention. This program will explore
this interdisciplinary topic from a variety different but interrelated
perspectives. First, global health reveals significant health disparities:
but what causes these, and which disparities are unjust and demand redress?
How types of social oppression such as, racism and heterosexism relate
to health injustices will be explored, alongside investigating the
contentious role of advocacy in public health.
Second, global health reveals dilemmas between individual rights and
communal benefits. For example, clinical trials funded by Western
pharmaceutical companies benefit and exploit participants in low-income
countries; measures to control the spread of Covid-19 protected and
restricted individuals; and international differences in assisted dying
legislation largely depend on how much a jurisdiction values individual
autonomy. Such dilemmas are viewed through a philosophical bioethics/public
health ethics lens.
Third, global health will be explored from a sociological and humanistic
perspective, emphasizing how health is shaped by global interdependencies,
power relations, and cultural meanings. Moving beyond biomedical paradigms,
the sociology of health can highlight the social, political, and
epistemological dimensions of illness, care, and inequality. In addition,
Graphic Medicine as an innovative visual and narrative approach to
representing experiences of vulnerability and global crisis, will be
introduced.
Topics will be selected reflecting participants interests and may include:
* History of efforts to account for what causes public health
disparities, and what makes a disparity an injustice/inequity in need of
intervention
* Efforts to theorize how various types of social oppression relate
to health injustices and the amelioration of those injustices
* Role of advocacy in public health, including limits on the roles
of public health experts in crafting social policies around issues such as
immigration and climate change
* Ethics of clinical trials by Western pharmaceutical companies that
take place in low-income countries
* Justification for liberty-limiting measures to control the spread
of Covid-19 around the globe
* International differences in forms of assisted dying and which, if
any, are justifiable.
* The conceptual evolution from Public Health to One Health and
Planetary Health, focusing on how sociological approaches reframe health as
a relational and systemic phenomenon
* Postcolonial and decolonial perspectives, questioning how global
health reproduces colonial hierarchies and epistemic injustices
* Visual storytelling: how comics and graphic narratives contribute
to understanding emotional labour, care, and social inequality in health
Lecturers:
Stephen Holland (University of York)
Stephen Holland is a Professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Health
Sciences, University of York.
Stephens main research interests are in ethics, including moral and
political philosophy, bioethics, and public health ethics. As well as
numerous articles, he is the author of Bioethics: A Philosophical
Introduction and Public Health Ethics, both published by Polity, and
Ethics and Governance of Public Health Information, published by Rowman &
Littlefield. He is currently working on a book on assisted dying, due to be
published by Polity next year.
Veronica Moretti (University of Bologna)
Veronica Moretti is an Associate Professor at the University of Bologna and
a member of the University Bioethics Committee. Her main research interests
lie in the field of creative and participatory methods within the sociology
of health and illness, and in the intersections between technology and human
practices, with a specific emphasis on digital health theories.
She is co-coordinator of the ESA Research Network 22 Sociology of Risk and
Uncertainties, a board member of the European Society for Health and Medical
Sociology (ESHMS), and one of the founders of Graphic Medicine Italia. Her
latest publication, The Social Genre of Comics (Palgrave, 2025),
investigates how comics can function as a social and epistemological genre
within the humanities and social sciences.
Sean A. Valles (Michigan State University)
Sean A. Valles, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Michigan State
University Center for Bioethics and Social Justice and Director of Learning
Environment for the College of Human Medicine.
Dr. Valles is a philosopher of health specializing in the ethical and
evidentiary complexities of how social contexts combine to create patterns
of inequitable health disparities. His work includes studying the challenges
of responsibly using race and ethnicity concepts in monitoring health
disparities, scrutinizing the rhetoric of the COVID-19 pandemic as an
unprecedented problem that could not be prepared for, and examining how
biomedicine meshes with public health and population health.
Dr. Valles is author of the 2018 book Philosophy of Population Health:
Philosophy for a New Public Health Era. He is also co-editor of the Oxford
University Press book series "Bioethics for Social Justice. Dr. Valles
received his PhD in history and philosophy of science from Indiana
University Bloomington.
Application form and further information:
<https://summerschool-ivc.univie.ac.at/application/>
https://summerschool-ivc.univie.ac.at/application/
USS-SWC operates under the academic supervision of an International Program
Committee of distinguished philosophers, historians, and scientists. Its
members represent the scientific fields in the scope of USS-SWC, make
contact to their home universities and will also support acknowledgement of
courses taken by the students. The annual summer school is organised by the
Institute Vienna Circle of the University of Vienna.
<https://wienerkreis.univie.ac.at/> https://wienerkreis.univie.ac.at/
Find information about our exchange programme with Duke University (North
Carolina) here:
<https://international.univie.ac.at/en/international-cooperation/university-
wide-partnership-agreements/north-america/>
https://international.univie.ac.at/en/international-cooperation/university-w
ide-partnership-agreements/north-america/
Inquiries:
Administrator:
Zarah Weiss
Institute Vienna Circle
Alser Straße 23/32
1080 Wien
<mailto:summerschool.ivc@univie.ac.at> summerschool.ivc(a)univie.ac.at
Scientific director:
Georg Schiemer
Institute Vienna Circle
Alser Straße 23/32
1080 Wien
<mailto:georg.schiemer@univie.ac.at> georg.schiemer(a)univie.ac.at