École Doctorale Romande en Philosophie
2005-2008
Workshop on Vagueness in Ovronnaz (Switzerland)
Saturday 24th June - Tuesday 27th June 2006



Presentation :
This workshop is on vagueness, and we will be interested in the notion of a borderline case, in solutions to the sorites, and, honestly, in anything that could help us to get out of a situation where the three best-known views (metaphysical vagueness, epistemicism, and supervaluationism) all have serious drawbacks.
The workshop will be conceived as a discussion of PRE-READ papers : speakers will not give talks, but rather make their papers available 4 weeks before the workshop, so that participants will have time to read them and prepare questions in advance. So, during the workshop, there will be NO talks, but there will be comments (15 minutes) with replies, and then a discussion.

Program :

Saturday 24 :

  • Meeting in the conference room (ask at the front desk of the hotel where it is) at 18.30 and dinner all together.


    • Sunday 25 :

  • 09.00 - 10.15, Mark Heller, Against epistemic vagueness, [see abstract] [download full text in PDF]
    Commentator : Jiri Benovsky

    • coffee break
  • 10.45 - 12.00, Philipp Keller, Not quite like Clouds, nor like Splitting Hairs: In Defense of Metaphysical Vagueness, [download full text in PDF]
    Commentator : David Stauffer

    • lunch
  • 13.45 - 15.00, Jean-Roch Lauper, Vagueness : Wrong Solutions for a Wrong Problem, [see abstract] [download full text in PDF]
    Commentator : Manuel Garcia-Carpintero

    • coffee break
  • 15.30 - 16.45, Dan Lopez de Sa, Lewis vs Lewis on the Problem of the Many, [see abstract] [download full text in PDF]
    Commentator : Teresa Marques


    • Monday 26 :

  • 09.00 - 10.15, Roy Sorensen, Knowledge, Beyong the margin for error, [see abstract] [download full text in PDF]
    Commentator : Pablo Rychter

    • coffee break
  • 10.45 - 12.00, Elia Zardini, A Paradox of Higher-Order Vagueness, [see abstract] [download full text in PDF]
    Commentator : Reto Givel

    • lunch
  • hike
  • 17.30 - ???, Discussion session :
    - Merricks "Varieties of vagueness"
    - Sorensen "A Constructive Proof of the Vagueness of "Vague"" (see also his "An argument for the Vagueness of "Vague"")
    - And any other sharp thoughts about vagueness



    • Expenses :
    For participants and speakers, travel (train CFF, 1/2 tarif, see the section "infos pratiques" in the menu above) and hotel expenses are covered by the organisers (including main meals). Drinks (even during meals) are however not covered, as well as the cost of the cableway we will take for the hike.

    Organisation :
    Jiri Benovsky
    jiri.benovsky AT unifr.ch
    http://www.unifr.ch/philo/modern-contemporary/benovsky/