Darwinian inheritance: from pangenesis to politics

Program dates: January 27-January 30, 2015.

A long tradition, still alive in our own day, holds that Charles Darwin, for all his undoubted achievements in biology, blundered badly on inheritance and how it works. Even more embarrassingly, Darwin put forward his "hypothesis of pangenesis" in the very same period when Gregor Mendel, with his experiments with hybrid pea plants, laid the foundations for what later scientists judged to be the correct account. With February 2015 marking 150 years since Mendel presented his research, this seminar series will explore the questions of what Darwin believed about inheritance, why he came to think about inheritance (including "Lamarckian" inheritance) in the ways he did, and how recent work in history and philosophy can illuminate both the Darwinian science of inheritance and the inheritance of Darwinian science, in biology and beyond.

What is the Lyon 3 HPS Winter School?

During four days (Tuesday to Friday), you’ll be participating to two seminars in History and Philosophy of Science, given by outstanding professors (one morning session, 10-12 and one afternoon session, 14-16). Lunch will be taken together and will be devoted to reading and discussing some papers related to the topic of the Winter School (Darwinian inheritance). Validation of the course will be through a 5 to 10 page final paper (« mini-mémoire ») in English (due February 15, 2015).

Language: All classes, discussions and readings will be in English.

Faculty:
Tim LEWENS (U. Cambridge, UK);
Gregory RADICK (U. Leeds, UK).

► Apply now!
Applications close on December 7, 2014. Limited enrolment.

Please enclose a two-page resume, a letter of recommendation (from your PhD adviser for instance) and a cover letter in support of your application, explaining your interest to participate to the HPS Winter School.

Contacts:
Administration, inscriptions: Sandrine BAROU (sandrine.barou@univ-lyon3.fr)
International relations: direction.ri@univ-lyon3.fr
Program director: Thierry HOQUET (thierry.hoquet@univ-lyon3.fr)

Organization and Partners: The Lyon HPS Winter School is a program supported by the Faculty of Philosophy at Lyon 3, the IRPHIL Laboratory and the Office of International Affairs at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University.