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Modes of Technoscientific Knowledge WinterschoolFlyer WinterschoolWinter School: Modes of Technoscientific Knowledge19-25 January, 2014Chalet Giersch, Manigod, FranceOrganization: Université Paris 1 Panthéon - Sorbonne (Cetcopra: www.univ-paris1.fr/en/centres-de-recherche/cetcopra/), Technische Universität Darmstadt (Institüt für Philosophie: www.philosophie.tu-darmstadt.de/start.de.jsp). French-German ANR-DFG program GOTO (www.goto-objects.eu),  BiCoDa Alliance (www.bicoda.info).Following the “practical turn” in history of science and science studies in the late decades of the 20th century, a “thing turn” has occurred in the philosophy of science and technology. Epistemology scholars are more and more concerned with “thing knowledge” rather than with theoretical representations (Baird 2004). The technological dimension of science is no longer to be seen as a mere mediation between mind and reality for the sake of theoretical representation, theory-testing or practical application. “Epistemic things” and “experimental systems” (Rheinberger 1997), models and simulations (Morrison &#38; Morgan 1999, Varenne 2007) and other technological artifacts are reconsidered as indispensable partners in the making of scientific knowledge. But how are we to identify and conceptualize the epistemic roles of technology in technoscientific research?As long as technoscience is assimilated with a highly application-driven enterprise aiming at remaking the world, most philosophical studies focus on the “impacts” of technoscientific applications on environment, society, or ethics and their regulation to the detriment of epistemology. However, the view of current technosciences as socio-political constructs arising less from “purely scientific” goals than from larger institutional, economic and cultural contexts does not preclude addressing their epistemic strategies qua technoscience. On the contrary, if technosciences are not only hybrids of science and technology but research projects that embody socio-political values, projects and agendas, then it is even more crucial to reconsider their epistemic status. Far from considering science (or a particular idealization of it) as “the” norm of knowledge and technoscience as a corrupted or contaminated form of it, the purpose is to characterize technoscientific knowledge as such in order to delineate an epistemology of technoscience as a distinctive enterprise with its own epistemic values and its own ways of producing knowledge as well as new forms of ignorance.This PhD and advanced graduate winter school seeks to explore the epistemology of technoscientific knowledge on the basis of a number of case studies ranging from recent technosciences such as nanotechnology or synthetic biology, to more traditional ones, such as chemistry, pharmacy or metallurgy. The purpose is to disentangle the historical, sociological, anthropological and philosophical implications of the epistemology of technoscience. Along with stimulating topics, the school offers above all a convivial place of exchange between PhD students and more advanced scholars from various countries.Lecturers: Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent (Univ. Paris 1 Sorbonne); Alfred Nordmann (Technische Univ. Darmstadt); Astrid Schwarz (University of Basel); Sacha Loeve (Univ.Paris 1 Sorbonne); Xavier Guchet (Univ. Paris 1 Sorbonne) ; Cyrus Mody (Rice University); Anne-Françoise Schmid (Ecole des Mines Paris); Jean-Pierre Llored (Free Univ. of Bruxelles); Hans-Jörg Rheinberger (H. Prof. MPIWG Berlin - to be confirmed).Participation: The school welcomes PhD and advanced graduate students interested in addressing these issues from philosophy, STS, cultural studies, anthropology, and related fields (other backgrounds such as physics, chemistry or biology are also welcome). Each participant should propose a technoscientific “object” or case study (even a programmatic one) and contribute an approximately 10-page paper by December 15, 2013. A reader of texts will be distributed well in advance of the course.Please direct expressions of interest to Sacha Loeve (sacha.loeve@univ-paris1.fr). An initial short abstract will be due on October 15, 2013.For more detailed information, see the attached documents or go to http://db.tt/ZxnL1f0Y