News

J. Peter Burgess has recently published an article critiquing Alexandre Wendt's 2015 Quantum Mind and the Social Sciences from the perspective of Vedantic philosophy. 

Abstract

Alexander Wendt’s 2015 The Quantum Mind and Social Scienceis nothing if not true to its aims. Through rigorous argumentation and solid erudition it from the state-of-the art of quantum physics theory to social reality. The result is a set of conclusions about the nature of social life that may appear marginally plausible. And yet the voyage comes at high price, It blithely navigates any traces of meaningful human experience or social relation that does not already hold social scientific currency. It avoids more deeply spiritual connections that have been made tenable by growing literature on the Eastern religious thought. All indices point to an explanation of the remaining quantum riddles through a rebooting of our ontological assumptions of the quantum mechanics. Caught in a narrow understanding of the question of being as the question of ‘which being’, The Quantum Mind misses the chance for truly insightful discoveries about the nature of social relations.    

Amplifiées par la révolution numérique, les « fake news » s’inscrivent dans un contexte plus large et ancien (crise des autorités, montée du relativisme et de l’irrationalisme, mécanismes de rumeur …). C’est pourquoi l’alliance de la technologie et des sciences humaines est nécessaire pour comprendre ce phénomène et lui apporter des réponses appropriées. C’est le but du Fakathon, un hakathon ouvert aux développeurs, chercheurs en SHS et professionnels de l’information.

Identity studies have long understood national identity as a matter of national security. In the high era of terrorism, the question of ‘us and them’ is increasingly collapsing on the question of ‘us and the terrorist’. Identity studies as terrorism studies. The Chair Geopolitics of Risk will welcome a group of international researchers to discuss the rise of identity-politics in a close workshop at Campus Jourdan.  

The volume, co-edited by J. Peter Burgess, examines the possibility of socially responsible innovation in security using an interdisciplinary approach.

Responsible innovation in security refers to a comprehensive approach that aims to integrate knowledge related to stakeholders operating at both the demand and the supply side of security – technologists, citizens, policymakers and ethicists. Security innovations can only be successful in the long term if all the social, ethical and ecological impacts, and threats and opportunities, both short term and long term, are assessed and prioritized alongside technical and commercial impacts. 

The Norwegian National Research Ethics Committee (FEK) in collaboration with the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD) will hold an open conference in Oslo on privacy and research ethics. The point of departure for the conference is the activation of the EU's GDPR and the Norwegian Privacy Law which is under examination in the parliament. 

J. Peter Burgess will hold an address entitled 'Om etikk og personvern [On ethics and privacy]'