May 22 and 23, 2019: 7th epistemology days

7th Journées Épistémologie des Universités de Montpellier:
Argumentation: a multiform practice?

Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 May 2019
UM Faculté des Sciences, salle de cours SC-10.01 (campus Triolet bâtiment 10)
Place Eugène Bataillon, 34090 Montpellier - streetcar 1 Universités

Days organized jointly by UM and UPVM3 | open to all, free access
https://epistemologie.umontpellier.fr/journees_epist/

This two-day event, jointly organized by UM and UPVM3, will feature four invited plenary lectures, an online digital debate workshop, a round table, and poster presentations (call for papers underway).

Argument:
When we think of argumentation, it's common to think of the speeches of politicians or lawyers, who seek to convince their audiences. Yet argumentation is also at the heart of many other social practices, not least scientific ones. When developing new models or theories, researchers engage in an argumentative process of justification, evaluation and criticism of the hypotheses put forward. Studying argumentation in science means focusing on the processes involved in constructing knowledge, rather than on the status of knowledge that has already been stabilized. These processes are where theory and experiment are articulated in the experimental sciences, or where conjecture and proof are explored in mathematics. They are also the site of complex social interactions played out on a discursive level. Argumentation appears as a transversal social practice, to be found in fields as varied as law, experimental sciences, mathematics and language sciences. Of course, the content of argumentation differs from one field to another. The same applies to the aims of argumentation. Beyond these obvious differences, can we identify deeper disparities that would lead us to speak of several "forms" of argumentation? Conversely, can we identify common characteristics that would lead us to see argumentation as a universal mode of exercising human thought? The 7th Journées Épistémologie devoted to argumentation will explore these questions from a comparative perspective, crossing epistemological perspectives on argumentation from a variety of fields: language sciences, experimental sciences, mathematics and law. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the possible forms and functions of argumentation in these different fields.

Program :

Wednesday afternoon, May 22, 2019 (1:45-6:00 pm)
1:45 pm - Welcome and opening
2:00 pm - Introduction to the Journées by Manuel Bächtold
2:20 pm - Lecture by Otto Pfersmann: The four legal arguments and the need for their distinction
3:20 pm - Lecture by Catherine Allamel-Raffin: Images et argumentation : analyse d'un article en radioastronomie
16h20 - Coffee break and poster communications
16h50 - Workshop: science-society online debate via the AREN platform - introduction 15 min by K. de Checchi, C. Huet and G. Pallarès
6:00 pm - End of session

Thursday, May 23, 2019 morning (09h-13h)
09h00 - Lecture by Christian Plantin: La restructuration des études de l'argumentation
10h00 - Lecture by Nicolas Balacheff: L'argumentation mathématique, un concept nécessaire pour penser l'apprentissage de la démonstration
11h00 - Coffee break and poster presentations
11h20 - Restitution-synthèse de l'atelier par K. de Checchi, C. Huet et G. Pallarès, opening the round table
11h20 - Round table with guest speakers, moderated by Muriel Guedj
12h50 - Closing (session ends at 13h)

N.B. To take part in the online debate workshop, please bring a laptop (or tablet) with WiFi or 4G connection (connection instructions on site).