Bulgaria

Questionnaire filled in by Lilia Gurova

Lilia Gurova is Associate Professor in philosophy of science at New Bulgarian University, Sofia.

(a) How many (full) professors of philosophy are there in your country (approx.) and how many are philosophers of science?

There are about 200 professional philosophers in Bulgaria that hold permanent academic positions. A forth of them (about 50) are full professors. There are only 2 full professors in philosophy of science and other 4 mention philosophy of science in their interests. If we add to the latter numbers the number of the associate professors and the assistant professors who mention philosophy of science in their denomination, the total number of professional philosophers having some points of contact with philosophy of science will be about 15 (which is less than 8% of all Bulgarian philosophers).

(b) How would you characterize philosophy of science in your country? For example, is it mainly general or specific (philosophy of physics, psychology, economics etc.)?

There is no clear tendency. Probably most of those 15 persons which I have mentioned above are concerned with one or another aspect of general philosophy of science but some of them have also written on particular problems related to philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of logic, philosophy of physics, philosophy of biology and philosophy of cognitive science. The following book provides an idea of what the philosophers of science in Bulgaria have worked on in the last decades:

Ginev, D. (Ed.) (2003) Bulgarian Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 236. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

(c) What are the possibilities and chances in your country for external funding in philosophy of science?

The possibilities to obtain external funding for research in the field of philosophy of science are limited. There is only one national agency for funding scientific research in Bulgaria and for the last 15 years it hasn’t funded any project in philosophy of science.

(d) Is there in your country a society for philosophers of science and if so, what are its activities?

In Bulgaria, there is no society for philosophy of science per se but part of the philosophers of science are members of the Bulgarian Society for Analytic Philosophy (BSAP) which was founded in 2012. BSAP organizes monthly seminars, reading groups and conferences, and some of these events are on topics related to philosophy of science. In 2015, for example, BSAP organized a conference on philosophy of mathematics and in 2016 it will take part in the organization of the Inaugural conference of the East European Network for Philosophy of Science, which will be held in Sofia, on June 24-26.

Greece

Questionnaire filled in by Stavros Ioannidis

Stavros Ioannidis is postdoctoral researcher in the department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Athens.

(a) How many (full) professors of philosophy are there in your country (approximately) and how many are philosophers of science?

In Greece there are about twenty full professors of philosophy, most of whom are em-ployed in philosophy departments (including the HPS department at the University of Athens). Three of them are philosophers of science. In total, there are about twelve philosophers (including associate and assistant professors) that mainly work, or have an interest in philosophy of science.

(b) How would you characterise philosophy of science in your country? For example, is it mainly general or specific (philosophy of physics, psychology, economics etc.)?

Research in philosophy of science in Greece is oriented towards general issues in philosophy of science (e.g. scientific realism, conceptual change), as well as issues in philosophy of physics — there are five professors that work within (general) philosophy of science, two of whom specialise in philosophy of physics. There is also one philosopher of mathematics, (at least) two professors who work in the philosophy of social sciences, and (at least) one philosopher of psychology. More generally, and in spite of the ongoing socioeconomic crisis in Greece, there is a growing community of postdoctoral and other researchers who work in a variety of topics both in general philosophy of science and in philosophy of individual sciences. Some of them have recently launched Analytica, an open-access English-language electronic journal, dedicated to philosophy of science.

(c) What are the possibilities and chances in your country for funding in philosophy of science?

The possibilities for funding in philosophy of science in Greece are quite limited. In general, most research projects are EU funded by programmes administered by the ministry of education. A recent example in philosophy of science was the ‘Aspects and Prospects of Realism in the Philosophy of Science and Mathematics’ project (PI: S. Psillos), which involved collaborations among three groups of philosophers of science from three different universities — twenty-two participants in this project were postdocs and doctoral students.

(d) Is there in your country a society for philosophers of science and if so, what are its activities?

There does not yet exist a society for philosophy of science in Greece. However, in 2010 the first Greek Congress in Philosophy of Science was organised, and has continued to be held every two years.