This bulletin was published in Synthese Volume 23 No. 4 (1972) 497-506, DOI 10.1007/BF00636300.
Executive Committee
Assessors:
M. Bunge, A. Grzegorczyk, K. J. J. Hintikka, M. O. Rabin.
Former Presidents:
The Executive Committee of the division is composed of the President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Council consists of the Executive Committee plus the Assessors.
Romanian Organizing Committee: A. Joja, G. Moisil, C. Popovici (General Secretary).
Program Committee: P. Suppes (Chairman).
Chairmen of Sections:
The meeting was called to order by the President, Professor S. Körner, at 4:10 PM in the aula of the School of Law of the University of Bucharest.
The President asked the Secretary to proceed with the usual verification of delegates. The following delegates were present. (The category of each national member is indicated in parentheses.)
National Members
Members not represented:
Argentina (A), Belgium (A), Chile (A), China (A), Denmark (A), Greece (A), Italy (A), Monaco (A), Spain (A), Sweden (B), Switzerland (A).
International Members
On behalf of the Executive Committee the Secretary moved the admission of two new national members, Australia in category B and Turkey in category A, as well as one new international member, the Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science with one vote. The motion carried unanimously. It was also announced that the Executive Committee has acted on the authorization by the previous General Assembly (Amsterdam, 1967) to remove the provisionality qualification from the membership of the Philosophy of Science Association.
Two proposals were offered by the Executive Committee: (a) That the membership of Argentina be terminated on grounds of deficiency in payment (there being a 9-year delinquency), and (b) that the membership of Greece be terminated partly on grounds of deficiency of scientific activity by the national committee in which Greek membership is vested, partly on grounds of deficiencies in payment.
With reference to Argentina, Professor G. C. Moisil moved "That the General Assembly instruct the Executive Committee to take measures with Argentina with reference to its back dues so that it not be excluded in accord with the statutes of the Division, an exclusion otherwise to take place after one year." This motion carried unanimously.
With reference to Greece the Bulgarian delegate moved an identical resolution. After some discussion Professor H. Putnam moved to table this motion, and his motion carried. The President observed that the Executive Committee would seek to encourage regularizing the participation of Greece in the work of the Division.
It was noted with regret that two further members, Spain and Chile, are seriously deficient in their participation in the obligations and activities of the Division.
The President noted that ICSU had urged its organs to encourage nations to participate at a level commensurate with their fullest capabilities. In this connection it was welcomed that Britain had requested reclassification from category B to category D, a request in which the Executive Committee acceded with pleasure. Other nations were urged to follow Britain's example in upgrading their categorization of membership.
The Secretary observed that the minutes of the last General Assembly (Amsterdam, 1967) had been printed in Synthese 18 (1968), pp. 121-129. The approval of these minutes as printed was moved, recorded, and passed.
The President expressed his thanks to his predecessor, Professor Y. Bar-Hillel, for his help smoothing the transition of his own succession to the office. The President mentioned three matters that had received special attention on the part of the officers during his administration: active sponsorship of scholarly meetings, closer collaboration with our sister division of the History of Science, and more effective cooperation with international philosophical organizations, especially FISP (the International Federation of Philosophical Societies). These matters will be dealt with in greater detail by his colleagues on the Executive Committee. He concluded by thanking his colleagues on that committee for the cordial and effective cooperation he had received from them throughout his term of office.
The Secretary first reported on the scholarly activities of the Division. Since 1967 fifteen symposia and colloquia had been sponsored by the organization: during 1968 in Salzburg, Warsaw, Åbo and Paris, during 1969 in Manchester and Helsinki, during 1970 in London, Oslo, Santiago and Jerusalem, and during 1971 in New York, Montreal, Berkeley, Cambridge and Copenhagen. (For details see Appendix B). In the area of publication, the Division has continued its annual subvention to the Journal of Symbolic Logic. Moreover, plans were well matured for publishing the proceedings of the present Congress.
The Secretary next reported on the progress of measures for closer cooperation with other philosophical organizations of international scope, in particular, the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP) and the International Institute of Philosophy (IIP). The former (FISP) — the sponsor of the great quinquennial international congresses — being the philosophical counterpart on the humanistic side of this Union in being linked to UNESCO through ICPHS instead of through the scientific branch ICSU, as is the case with us. The latter (IIP) is an association of individuals, an international academy of eminent philosophers from many nations and sponsors annual colloquia, publications, etc. In negotiations between officers of the Division and those of these organizations in Helsinki during August 1970 (specifically including A. Mercier the Secretary General of FISP and A. J. Ayer the President of IIP) four points were agreed upon: (1) Regular mutual exchange of information between the Secretaries of these organizations, (2) Invitations to send observers to business meetings, (3) Periodic meetings of officers, (4) the exploration of the establishment of joint committees and commissions. In implementation of this last point an ad hoc committee had been established consisting of G. H. von Wright of Finland for the Division and A. Mercier of Switzerland for FISP with a view to assisting emigré philosophers in finding employment.
The Secretary further mentioned the plan inaugurated by FISP for the holding of a World Philosophical Year in 1978. He described the plans for this occasion and stated that negotiations with UNESCO for their realization were currently underway.
Finally, the Secretary discussed plans for the scholarly activities of the Division. There is a prospect of international colloquia in the philosophy of science in Brussels in 1972 and in Salzburg in 1972 or 1973. Moreover, the Division is actively collaborating with its sister division in the History of Science for joint future activities. A working group under the leadership of Professor Mary Hesse had been appointed and was then called upon and made the following report.
Members of the Commission:
The commission had held meetings with other interested participants at the Moscow Congress of History of Science and at the Bucharest Congress of LMPS.
The principal business had been preliminary planning of a colloquium of about 30 participants to be held in 1973, at which specific problems requiring the disciplines of history and of philosophy of science would be studied. Five ways in which the disciplines relate to each other were distinguished:
The commission proposed to hold in 1972 a planning meeting to determine place, time, issues and persons for the colloquium, and requested support and a subvention for this meeting, and also several support for their plans to date. Such support had already been given by the General Assembly of the Division of H.S.
The presentation of this report was followed by expressions of approval of these steps to cooperate with our sister division.
The Treasurer reported on the financial affairs of the Division as of 31 December 1970. This report is given as Appendix A of these minutes. His report was accepted unopposed by a show of hands.
The President quoted a letter from ICSU urging its members to reassess their finances in the light of recent reflationary developments and to strive for a firmer financial footing. On behalf of a unanimous Council he moved the increase of the unit of dues from $50 to $60 and a proportionate increase in the assessment of international members. Professor Y. Bar-Hillel stated that this increase was altogether inadequate. He proposed an increase to $100. After considerable discussion this second proposal was voted down and the Council's original proposal was accepted unanimously. Professor L. Kalmár urged the Executive Committee to send a letter of notification to the official governmental groups.
On behalf of the Executive Committee the President proposed the appointment of an ad hoc committee to explore the possibilities of securing funding for the work of the Division outside the usual framework. It was proposed that this committee consist of the Treasurer ex officio and Professor Patrick Suppes, and he be authorized to coopt one or two further members. A motion to this effect was adopted unanimously.
The usual motion authorizing the Executive Committee to make budgeting determinations in the interval until the next General Assembly was introduced and unanimously passed.
The next item was the election of officers to serve until the convening of the next General Assembly. On behalf of the Council, the President proposed as his successor to the presidency Professor Andrzej Mostowski who was elected by acclamation. Also on behalf of the Council the President proposed that the Secretary and Treasurer be continued in office for another term and this proposal was also approved by acclamation. For the Vice-Presidency two names were offered in nomination by the Council, Professors K. J. J. Hintikka and H. Törnebohm. The name of Professor G. C. Moisil was added by nomination from the floor. Balloting produced the result that Professor Hintikka was elected with Professor Moisil to serve as alternate. For the four Assessor positions eight names were nominated: Professors L. J. Cohen, A. Grünbaum, M. Hesse, A. Joja, M. V. Popovic, H. Rasiowa, D. Scott, W. Stegmüller, and H. Takeda. Ballots were distributed and Professors A. Grzegorczyk and M. Bunge were appointed as tellers. As a result of the ballot, the President announced that Professors Hesse, Popovic, Stegmüller, and Takeda had been elected as the four assessors with D. Scott and A. Grünbaum as successive alternates. (Further alternative alternates: H. Rasiowa, L. J. Cohen.)
The President observed that the time and place of the next meeting were both open issues, and that invitations were forthcoming from Austria (Salzburg) and Canada (London, Ontario). He called upon Professor P. Weingartner to present the Austrian and Professor R. Butts the Canadian invitations. The assembly then voted to hold the meeting in 1975 (to avoid conflicting with the History of Science Division's meeting in Tokyo in 1974). As to the place, a straw vote showed a preference for Austria (Salzburg), but a motion was unanimously adopted authorizing the Executive Committee to make a final decision after undertaking some further inquiries.
Professor P. Achinstein moved a vote of thanks to both inviting members, Austria and Canada, for their proferred hospitality. The motion was adopted by acclamation. Professor H. Putnam moved a vote of thanks to the Romanian Local Organizing Committee (A. Joja, G. C. Moisil, C. Popovic), the Program Committee (P. Suppes, Chairman and A. Mostowski, A.A. Markov, M. Rabin, G. Kreisel, W. Stegmüller, K. J. J. Hintikka, A. Grünbaum, M. O. Beckner, A. N. Leontiev, P. Lazarsfeld, S. Marcus, M. Hesse as Section Chairmen), as well as to the past officers of the Division for their organizational labors in relation to the Congress and the related work of the Division. This sentiment was supported in a most cordial address by Professor B. M. Kedrov and the motion of thanks was adopted by acclamation.
The President indicated that several items of further business required the attention of the General Assembly.
The meeting was adjourned by the President at 6:50 PM.
[Financial Appendix A to be added]
Past Meetings
Meeting Subvention ($)
Future Meetings