Time: Friday, January 10, 2025 at 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Venue: F3017, Main Building, University of Helsinki (Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor)
Panelists: Helen Beebee, Cesare Cuttica, Ilkka Niiniluoto, Minna Palmroth
Moderator: Kaisa Kaakinen (HCAS)
Event description
Scientific progress and the progress of academic inquiry in general is no straight path. It is difficult, if not impossible, to predict the twists and turns of methodological or theoretical developments, paradigm shifts, or scientific revolutions. Groundbreaking discoveries often emerge when one is least expecting them, and they typically require years of basic research.
In this session, the panelists discuss the motors and obstacles of academic inquiry. If progress essentially involves impasses, errors, and inadvertent detours, then how should we facilitate academic inquiry? To what extent should we tolerate the self-governed and sometimes slow advancement of our understanding of the world? Do the humanities and social sciences differ from natural sciences in their mechanisms of progress?
Panelist Bios
Helen Beebee is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds and, during the 2024–2025 academic year, the Jane and Aatos Erkko Visiting Professor in Studies on Contemporary Society at the Helsinki Collegium of Advanced Studies. She has previously held positions at the Universities of Manchester and Birmingham and the Australian National University. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and has been President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science and the Aristotelian Society. Beebee's work has mostly been in metaphysics, where she has published on causality, laws of nature, freedom of the will, and related topics.
Cesare Cuttica teaches British History at the Université Paris 8 and is member of the Helsinki Centre for Intellectual History. Besides working on the history of ideas in early modern Britain and Europe, Dr Cuttica has written about the practice of history-writing. He has studied and worked in the UK, the US and at various institutions in Europe. He is currently the beneficiary of a ‘Gerda Henkel Stiftung Scholarship: Funding Programme Democracy’, based at the University of Helsinki. This collaborative project focuses on the history of democracy in early modern Europe.
Ilkka Niiniluoto is Professor Emeritus at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Academic career: Master of Science (1968), Doctor of Philosophy (1974), Associate Professor of Mathematics (1973–1977), Professor of Theoretical Philosophy (1977–2014), Vice-Rector for Research (1998–2003), Rector (2003–2008), and Chancellor (2008–2013). In 2017 he received the title of Academician of Science. Niiniluoto was the President of the Philosophical Society of Finland in 1975–2015. Niiniluoto has worked on philosophical logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of culture, philosophy of technology, and history of philosophy. His publications include Is Science Progressive? (1984).
Minna Palmroth is a professor in computational space physics at the University of Helsinki and Finnish Meteorological Institute, and the Director of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space. Palmroth’s experience includes fundamental space physics, space weather preparedness, high-performance computing, and the sustainable use of space. She holds many positions of trust and is active in outreach. She is a member of four invitation only academies, and has been awarded with the J.V. Snellman prize, the Väisälä prize, and the prestigious Copernicus Medal for scientific achievements and excellence in communications.