FINAL SCHEDULE - CEPS Philosophical Colloquium (19–20 March 2026): Beneath the Surface of the Life Sciences

[Giorgio Airoldi]

The CEPS (Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society) of the University of Minho is organising a PHILOSOPHICAL COLLOQUIUM on March 19–20, 2026 on the topic: “Beneath the Surface of the Life Sciences: How Epistemic Uncertainty, Metaphysical Assumptions, and Value Judgments Shape Ethical and Political Reasoning.”

Today, the life sciences - evolutionary biology, genetics, the medical sciences, and ecology - are generally presented as being rigorously grounded both empirically and methodologically as well as being value-neutral. Yet, their conceptual frameworks frequently rely on ambiguous epistemic claims, idealized models, metaphors and analogies, pragmatic shortcuts, unexamined assumptions and arguably even value judgments.

Nevertheless, in our society science has assumed an increasingly important role in supporting political and ethical decisions. The significant reliance on scientific opinion and modelling during the COVID-19 pandemic, or the use of empirical evidence of sentience as the key driver in the articulation of animal welfare legislation, illustrate how science increasingly influences policymakers and becomes embedded in ethical and political reasoning. 

The epistemological and metaphysical foundations of the life sciences are thus no longer confined to academic circles: beneath the surface, they subtly shape how citizens perceive the world. Much like in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, where Andrea’s blue sweater, unbeknownst to her, originated on haute couture runways, filtered through designer collections, and eventually ended up in a clearance bin where she picked it up, ingenuously believing her choice was free from the fashion industry’s influence, policymakers and citizens are constantly influenced by frameworks that are neither scientifically coherent nor politically independent. 

This ‘Philosophical Colloquium’ brings together scholars from diverse areas of philosophy to critically examine the metaphysical and epistemological foundations of the life sciences, and to explore their growing but often-invisible impact on society.

 In the end, we may still choose to wear the same sweater, but with a clearer understanding of why we do, and where it truly comes from.

Schedule

Thursday, March 19th

09:00 09:15  Welcome and Introduction of module I: Inferring Minds: Epistemic Challenges in Sentience and Neuroscience

09:15 10:15  Lorenzo Baravalle (Universitat de Valencia): Avoiding the Wrong Mistake: Type I and Type II Errors as Hidden Constraints in Sentience Research

10:45 11:45  Davide Vecchi (UNED, Madrid): Sentience research between naturalism, scientism and pseudoscience

11:45 12:45   Gil Santos (Universidade de Lisbooa): Brain, Mind, and Society: Unjustified inferences in/from neuroscience and their ethical implications.

14:00 14:15 Introduction of Module II: Classifying and Measuring the Living World

14:15 15:15  Beatriz Martín (UNED, Madrid): Health, Resilience, or Services: Normativity in Ecological Evaluation

15:45 16:45  Jaime Soler Parra (Universitat de Valencia): Classification is not a neutral activity

16:45 17:45  Victor Luque (Universitat de Valencia): Prediction in evolutionary systems and the problem of quantification

Friday, March 20th

09:00 09:15 Introduction of Module III module III: Engineering Life: Biology, Technology, and the Future of the Human

09:15 10:15  Maurizio Esposito (Università Statale degli Studi, Milano): Biology in the Age of Engineers

10:45 11:45  Vanessa Triviño (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid): Reductionism, Emergence, and Grounding in the Ontology of Biological Individuals

11:45 12:45  Spyridon A. Koutroufinis (Technical University of Berlin): Seeing Watchmakers? A Skeptical Encounter with Transhumanism

Venue
Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society (CEPS), ELACH Building, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Auditorium ELACH - Sala 0.22

Attendance is free and open both in person and online. If you plan to attend online, please send an email to gair...@elach.uminho.pt and we will share the zoom link.

The book of abstracts is available here: https://philevents.org/event/show/146845

Giorgio Airoldi, Ph.D.

Full Time Researcher

CEPS - Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society

Universidade do Minho

https://ceps.elach.uminho.pt/cpt_team/giorgio-airoldi/

ORCID-ID: 0000-0003-1535-674X

CIÊNCIAVITAE-ID: C91A-73E8-03E8