Philosophy Seminar: In Praise of the Department Seminar - Disciplinarity and the Growth of Knowledge, an Institutional Approach

Event Details

Date:

Friday, 17 October 2014 - Friday, 17 October 2014

Time:

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Room:

E302

UQ Location:

Forgan Smith Building (St Lucia)

URL:

www.uq.edu.au/hprc

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Professor Fred D'Agostino (UQ) proposes to sketch one aspect of an institutional approach to the conditions under which growth of knowledge can occur. The broader setting for the paper is an examination of the disciplines (e.g. Philosophy) and how, in their various aspects, they work. One key aspect is their “dual institutionalisation”, with departments on one side and research specialties on the other. For various reasons, work inside the research specialities is oriented towards the production of significant novelty but somewhat inhibited in pursuing it whole-heartedly. A key factor is the homogeneity of the specialty peer-group relative to the diversity of the disciplinary collegium as a whole. This diversity is typically well-represented in the department and hence is available, at the departmental seminar, for the author of a specialist research paper to draw on. It is in this humble institution, now somewhat imperilled, that the specialist researcher is most likely to encounter ideas and feedback that will facilitate their production of significant novelty.