Dr. Michael Silberstein, the philosophy department chair at Elizabethtown College, was recently invited to be a scholar at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) for the month of July 2013 and was elected vice president of the Society for Mind-Matter Research (SMMR).
The MCMP deals with applications of logical and mathematical methods, as well as different kinds of philosophical problems. According to the MCMP website, issues “ranging from epistemology and philosophy of science to metaphysics, the philosophy of language, ethics, and political philosophy” are studied at the center.
This organization is integrated into the Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany, which, according to the StudyPortals’ website, is “one of the world’s leading international universities, fully competitive with the other major institutions of higher learning and research.
The SMMR, to which Silberstein has been elected vice president, is not only a society but is also a journal celebrating its 10th anniversary. According to the SMMR website, “this society has been established not only as a host for the journal but also to support and promote scientists working in the exciting area of mind-matter research,” Silberstein explained. “We will be involved in selecting articles for the journal, and we’re also going to be hosting conferences.”
One of the reasons Silberstein was invited to Germany this summer is because of the specific nature of his work. Silberstein specializes in the foundations of physics and the foundations of cognitive science and neuroscience. He explained that the foundations of physics are “the implications of our best fundamental theories like quantum mechanics or relativity” and that cognitive science and neuroscience deal with issues like “how does consciousness relate to the brain [and] how are humans able to engage in cognition and creativity.” Silberstein said, “One of the areas that I do work in that I’m well known for is called emergence and complexity. I’m a philosopher of science; it’s about the science of complex systems, which is a big area of research these days in biology, in computer science, in physics [and] everywhere.”
Silberstein also explained that one of the reasons he was elected vice president of the SMMR is because his beliefs match those of the organization. He said, “One of the perennial philosophical and now scientific questions is how the mind and consciousness relates to the brain and the body and the physical world. This particular society is devoted to the idea that solving how these things can be related requires re-conceptualizing both matter and mind. A lot of my work has been about consciousness in the brain.”
When asked how he thinks his accomplishments will reflect on the College, Silberstein said, “Whenever researchers in an institution get wider recognition then that has a tendency to reflect positively on the institution that they are a part of.” Silberstein said that there would be much more to share with his students after going to Germany this summer and through being involved with the SMMR. He said, “I’m going to continue to do the same research. The way it affects my teaching is this: anytime that you learn more and interact with other people and get a wider perspective that can feed back into what you do in the classroom.”
Another reason Silberstein was invited to Munich, Germany is because of the research he does with Dr. W. Mark Stuckey from Etown’s physics department. Dr. Silberstein said, “We’ve published a lot of stuff together in foundations of physics, quantum mechanics, and relativity.” Because of their collaborations, Silberstein and Stuckey have been invited to present a paper at a foundations of physics conference in Munich.
According to the MCMP website, this “is the largest philosophy department in Germany. The faculty has a great history in logic and philosophy of science, as the internationally renowned schools of Kurt Schütte (mathematical logic) and Wolfgang Stegmüller (philosophical logic, philosophy of science) demonstrate.”