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Report on the ISHPSSB Kobe off-year workshop: Biology Studies in East Asia
The ISHPSSB off-year Workshop, "Biology Studies in East Asia"
(<http://www.econ.osaka-cu.ac.jp/~aseto/ISH/>http://www.econ.osaka-cu.ac.jp/~aseto/ISH/)
was held at Kobe University, Japan, 5-7 November 2008. This was the
first ISHPSSB event held in Asia, co-sponsored by the Biological Unit
of the History of Science Society of Japan and the Philosophy of
Science Society, Japan. There were about 50 participants, 1 from
Taiwan, 2 from Korea, 2 from China, 4 from the United States, 2 from
Canada, 1 from France, and around 40 from Japan.
The past three off-year workshops (San Francisco 2004, Indiana 2006,
St. Louis 2008) were aimed at helping graduate students explore their
research careers. In contrast, since this was the first ISHPSSB
workshop in Asia, we organized it in a different way as described
below, while taking over some parts of the ethos of past workshops at
the same time.
We set the following objectives: (1) to build a network of scholars
researching biology in East Asia and (2) to foster interactions
between these scholars and the current ISHPSSB members. In East Asia,
there are many historians and sociologists of biology, and
philosophers of biology are now increasing in number. However, East
Asian participants in ISHPSSB biannual meetings is low. The hope is
that smaller gatherings like this workshop will lead to increased
interactions between East Asian scholars and the rest of the
international community.
The workshop started with opening remarks by former ISHPSSB president
Michael Dietrich, who read a letter of welcome from current
president, James Griesemer. Togo Tsukahara, chair of the organizing
committee, extended a welcome from the host institution, Kobe
University. The following sessions ensued: Emerging Philosophy of
Biology in East Asia, Systematic Biology and the Species Problem,
Neuroethics: East and West, History of Eugenics in East Asia, and
Japanese Biology in Colonial Imperial Universities. Each session had
three to four speakers, most of whom were invited from East Asian
countries, with some from the United States and Canada. Most sessions
had younger speakers, according to the concept of former workshops.
There were 22 speakers, including 5 graduate students and 3 post docs.
In the 'Emerging Philosophy of Biology in East Asia' session,
reflecting burgeoning interests in this field, such variety of topics
as biology and ethics, intelligent design hypothesis, cultural
evolution, evolutionary theory seen as an informational theory,
Kimura's neutral theory, Richard Owen's views on heredity, massive
modular theory, and evolutionary psychology were discussed. In the
'Species Problem' session, traditional problems of continuities and
discontinuities between species, that is homology and species
discretization, were viewed from the perspectives of evo-devo or
theoretical ecology. The 'Neuroethics' session included new topics
that have not been present in the past ISHPSSB programs: an emerging
concern about the enhancement of brain functions, brain-machine
interface, the influence of computer games on our brain (in a
typically Japanese game-addict cultural context), or whether the
brand-new 'neuroethics' can really add something new to traditional
applied ethics. In the 'History of Eugenics' session, detailed case
studies of eugenic policies in China, Hong Kong, and Japan, as well
as a study of the connection between the prevalent antenatal testing
and eugenic intentions were provided. Finally, in the 'Japanese
Biology in Colonial Imperial Universities' session, there were
presentations on taxonomy in colonial Korea, rice breeding in Korea
and Taiwan, and sericulture in Thailand. This reflects the current
situation that East Asian historians are beginning to share interests
on science under Japanese Empire, as colonial science has been an
important topic in western history of science. You can see more
information on presentations and abstracts at our webpage:
<http://www.econ.osaka-cu.ac.jp/~aseto/ISH/>http://www.econ.osaka-cu.ac.jp/~aseto/ISH/
Besides invited speeches, there was an informal session for graduate
students working on the history of eugenics. In addition, an
excursion was held at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology
(CDB), one of the most distinguished institutions for embryology,
stem cell research, and regenerative medicine. We were first given a
briefing on the research activities of the CDB and then had a tour
through the many labs. Continuing the tradition started by the 2004
FDISH off-year workshop, "happy office hours" were held, but with a
Japanese twist - at an izakaya, a Japanese pub.
The workshop was quite successful in building a network of scholars
across East Asia. It was the first ISHPSSB activity for most of the
East Asian participants, and many were excited to meet historians and
philosophers of biology from different countries. It was the first
talk given in English for many of the graduate students and some are
excited to further this experience with talks at the Brisbane meeting
next July. Some of the sessions of this workshop are now planning to
have a panel session at the next Brisbane meeting.
The workshop was funded by several governmental and private funds:
JSPS Grant in Aid for Scientific Research, JSPS Global COE Program
for Ars Vivendi : Forms of Human Life and Survival, University of
Tokyo Center for Philosophy, Kao Foundation for Arts and Sciences,
and the CASIO Science Promotion Foundation. Funding was provided with
support from members of the organizing committee: Togo Tsukahara
(Kobe University), Yoko Matsubara (Ritsumeikan University), Shunkichi
Matsumoto (Tokai University), Nobuhiro Minaka (NIAES, University of
Tokyo), Osamu Sakura (University of Tokyo), and Akihisa Setoguchi
(Osaka City University). We also appreciate Grant Yamashita (Arizona
State University) and Lisa Onaga (Cornell University) for their
support.
*** End of announcement
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