Hi folks. It's conference time again, and of course we have organised to have the Australasian Association of Philosophy/Australasian Association for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (AAP/AAHPSSS) conferences in the coldest place on the mainland - my home town Melbourne, at the depths of winter. At least it's not Vancouver. So I'm going to be a bit quiet for a while. Play Mornington Crescent amongst yourselves until I get back (not you, Grossman. You're supposed to be fully engaged at the conference. If I see you in the comments after Sunday, I shall refuse to buy you a beer).
Some random thoughts below...
I got the responses to my ARC grant application that will, if it comes through, pay for my eating and sundry living costs for the next three years. It's on the evolution of religion, a recently hot topic. One of the commentators thought that I was wrong to say that it's hard to find a religion that lacks supernatural beings, and instanced Buddhism, Confucianism and Jainism. A quick trip to the Encyclopedia of Religion sorted that mistake out: there's a common distinction between popular and elite religious forms, and just like you can find Catholicism without the saints, you can find Buddhism without the devas, Brahmin, or various family gods, etc., but it isn't the popular religion. And that got me thinking...
I have criticised PZ Mangle and others for attacking the popular forms of religion and not dealing with the intellectual (read: elite) forms. Here I am being criticised in the same manner. Poetic justice, perhaps? It raises an important point about my project: in order to understand religion, you absolutely must not deal with the "pure" philosophical forms alone. In fact, they are very often the province of the "clergy": those whose lives are devoted to the religion, and who are supported by the popular religious. It's hard to envisage a church of Tillichs, for example.
So I must consider (not critique, this is not that project) all forms of religions, and not fall into the philosopher's trap of dealing solely with the philosophical. Nor shall I do the reverse, and reject the elite forms as irrelevant. We want to know how the whole kit and kaboodle evolved (always wanted to use that phrase here).
Moving on, read the delightful Kate Devitt on memory here. Richard Sever has a letter in Nature on the abuse of the term "design" in biology. I agree with him and go one further - all talk of design in biology, outside of genetic engineering or selective breeding, is a hangover from the natural theology days (even Darwin fell prey to it). Stop it now. There is not even the appearance of design in biology, just assertions of it.
That apostate Carl Zimmer notes a new blog by Mark Siddal on leaches. It was a badly needed gap in the blogosphere (no, just kidding. It will be awesome).
If they give me wireless where I'm staying, I may blog me some conference, but don't hold your breath...
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Fraid I'm not coming to the conference. I'll be in Melbourne at the end of July, but you'll probably have left by then. Sorry. :--(
...the coldest place on the mainland - my home town Melbourne, at the depths of winter.
Meaning, it's "only" 10degC, and it rains a little bit extra, right? Wimp.
Come to Ottawa in late January. We'll supply a parka.
John,
as a Melbournian Im wondering if there are any public lectures or events one could attend for this conference?
And you seem to have a quite a few readers from Canada that have never been here,its 14 degrees and only the odd squally shower around atm LOL...
John, you've obviously never been to Ballarat in July, or the high country for that matter. At least Melbourne has the moderating effect of the sea. Oh well, I'll have a beer for you knowing that you're in the area.
It's cold and foggy here today, ho hum. I don't like weather.
Any chance I could buy you a beer while you're here? =)
Eamon, I'll have you know that water freezes here in Brisbane at 10 degrees C!
melbourne? cold? vancouver cold? feh. try winnipeg in february.
What would be called a fine summer day in some parts of Scotland :)
John,
There seems to be a bit of interest on the beer front. (In the City of Rains?) Are you holding court anywhere?
We might do a beer thing next weekend, probably on the Sunday depending on how I get booked up. If so, I'll find a way to announce it on the blog.
It will need to be in the CBD or around Carlton/Fitzroy.
Pentonville Rd, though that depends on what form of the rules are in operation...
And you seem to have a quite a few readers from Canada that have never been here
Nope, never been Down-Under (hope to some day, though). I guessed at Melbourne June weather based on info in the Wikipedia entry.
You should try Canberra in the winter...as an ex-Melbournian (oh the sorrow) I say it is definitely colder, sunnier but colder. See you tonight!!!!!
Rachael - you can't try Canberra in winter. Well, not unless you're playing Hawke's variation, and that hasn't been enforced since 1991.
Sorry to miss you - I was just in Melbourne for a conference on Asia. Rug up. As others have said, it's (almost) as cold as Canberra.
I have some questions:
(1) Has anyone ever played Mornington Crescent using species instead of train stations and the evolutionary tree instead of the map of the Underground?
(2) In such a game, which species would represent the winning move?
(3) Would it be reasonable to say that your entire life's work essentially boils down to an attempt to sort out the rules as definitively as possible?
Morningtonia Cresentensis!