This bulletin was published in Synthese Volume 76 No. 3 (1988) 453-473, DOI 10.1007/BF00869613.
Executive Committee
Assessors:
Alternate Assessors:
Former Presidents:
The Executive Committee of the Division is composed of the President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and the immediate Past-President. The Council consists of the Executive Committee plus the Assessors.
Local Organising Committee
Chairman:
I. T. Frolov, Institute of Philosophy, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Volkhonka 14, 119842 Moscow, USSR.
Vice-Chairmen:
D. P. Gorsky, Yu. L. Ershov, V. I. Kuptsov, V. A. Lektorsky, S. T. Melyukhin, Yu. V. Sachkov, V. S. Stepin
Secretaries:
I. S. Melyukhin, S. A. Nikolsky, S. I. Adyan, P. S. Oraevsky, L. Ja. Gervits, V.V. Petrov, V. S. Gott, A.I. Rakitov, D. P. Gribanov, V. N. Sadovsky, A. G. Egorov, V.S. Semenov, Yu. S. Eliseeva, E. A. Sidorenko, R. S. Karpinskaya, V. A. Smirnov, G. G. Kvasov, E. N. Sokolov, V. J. Kelle, V. I. Fatina, A. D. Kosichev, G. G. Chakhmakhchev, N. I. Lapin, V. I. Shinkaruk, I. A. Lavrov, S. V. Yablonsky, B. F. Lomov, R. G. Yanovsky, N. N. Moiseev
Programme Committee
Steering Committee:
Chairmen of sectional panels:
The credentials committee (R. Hilpinen and H. Pfeiffer) reported that, in accordance with their mandate from the Executive Committee, they had verified the credentials of 27 delegations from ordinary members and on e delegation from international member organisations. They were as follows. (The category of each ordinary member and the voting entitlement of each international member is indicated in parentheses.)
Ordinary Members
Ordinary members not present:
Bulgaria (A), Chile (A), Greece (A), Hungary (A), Republic of Korea (A), Monaco (A), Netherlands (C), Spain (B), Venezuela (A), Yugoslavia (A).
International Members:
The President stated that the draft minutes of the last General Assembly were published in Synthese 57 (1983), pp. 445-453, and in Studia Logica 42 (1983), pp. 373-378. The minutes were then agreed and adopted.
The Secretary outlined the new statutes drafted by the Executive Committee. The most important change proposed is the replacement of the expression "National Member" by "Ordinary Member" as a designation for the members of the Division which represent a country or a well-defined territory; this change has been made both in the statutes of the Division and in the statutes of the Union. The new statutes were adopted nero. con. The English and the French texts of the new statutes are given in Appendix A.
On the recommendation of the Executive Committee, the General Assembly accepted applications for membership from the Committee of the China Society of the Dialectics of Nature and the Chinese Society for Logic (category C) and from the Committees for Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science in Peru, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia (category A).
On the recommendation of the Executive Committee it was agreed to reclassify Australia (A) in category B.
The President observed that the Division has continued to grow, and welcomed the new member committees from China, Peru, Venezuela and Yugoslavia into the Division. He thanked the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Professor I. T. Frolov, and the Chairman of the Programme Committee, Professor J. E. Fenstad, for their work for the Congress. He observed that the International Congress is perhaps the most significant activity of the Division, and discussed the difficulty and the complexity of the organisational tasks related to the Congress. He stressed the importance of keeping the Congress open to all serious scholars, both in the sense required by the ICSU principle of free circulation of scientists, and in the sense of economic affordability.
The President discussed the structure of the Congress and observed that the general division of labour between the Programme Committee and the Organising Committee is necessary for ensuring the international character of the Congress, and should be preserved in the future. However, the usual sectional organisation of the Congress might be enriched by suitable additional meetings and symposia. In the present Congress, the affiliated meetings planned by the Organising Committee have brought welcome variety to the programme, and such meetings (or suitable satellite meetings) might be made a standard part of the Congress in the future. For example, the Association for Symbolic Logic and the International Association for Philosophy of Science might 0rganise special meetings as satellite meetings of the Congress.
The President also discussed the recent developments in the field of logic, methodology and philosophy of science, and observed that the sectional organisation of the Congress should be adapted to these developments. For example, the new developments in computer science, artificial intelligence, and applied logic, as well as the recent concern for the ethics of science, should find adequate representation in the Congress.
Scholarly Activities of the Division
In 1984-1987 the Division has sponsored 16 International conferences, symposia, and summer schools; a list of the meetings is given in Appendix B. The Division has continued to support the European summer meeting of the Association of Symbolic Logic, and it has also sponsored logic meetings in South America and Asia. The balance between the logic conferences and philosophy of science conferences supported by the Division has improved in recent years: of the 16 meetings supported by the Division in 1984-87, 8 have been in the general area of logic, 8 meetings in the philosophy of science. The latter meetings include two Joint Conferences of History and Philosophy of Science: the 5th Joint Conference was held in 1984 in Veszprem, Hungary, and the 6th Conference in 1986 in Ghent, Belgium; these meetings were jointly sponsored by the Division of History of Science and DLMPS. The newly founded Association for Philosophy of Science which became an international member of the Division in 1983 has been actively involved in the organisation of several of these meetings.
Cooperation with Other Organisations
The Secretaries of the two Divisions have maintained close contact during the four-year period. The joint Bureau of the Union met during the XVIIth International Congress of History of Science in Berkeley, California, July 1985, and will meet again during the present Congress. The Secretary represented IUHPS in the meeting of the General Committee of ICSU in Munich in October 1985.
Meetings of the Executive Committee
The Executive Committee has met once a year: in 1983 during the Salzburg Congress of LMPS, in May 1984 in Hannover, in November 1985 in Darmstadt, in October 1986 in Turku, and again during the present Congress (on 17 August). Much of the business of the Committee has been conducted by correspondence. Besides the usual work related to scholarly meetings and the International Congress, the Committee has been especially concerned with the revision of the statutes. The Committee has also prepared a Congress Memorandum which contains directives and suggestions for the organizers of the International Congresses.
Action Taken to Implement Decisions of the 1983 General Assembly
In accordance with the request made by the 1983 General Assembly, the Executive Committee has drafted new statutes for the Division. The most important change proposed is the replacement of the expression "National Member" by "Ordinary Member" as a designation for the members which represent a country or a well-defined territory. The revisions make it easier to accept new members into the Division and clarify the role of the Council of the Division. The Committee has prepared equivalent French and English versions of the new statutes: no authoritative English version of the statutes has existed earlier. The preparation of the English text was greatly facilitated by a draft translation of the old statutes prepared by Dr. F. Greenaway and Dr. L. J. Cohen, and by the English text of the statutes of the Division of History of Science, prepared by Dr. Eric Forbes. According to our statutes, the Council of the Division may formulate Rules of Procedure for situations which are not explicitly regulated by the statutes. It has sometimes been suggested that the methods of nominating candidates for various offices of the Division should be formalised to a certain extent; the Council can accomplish this by adopting Rules of Procedure for nominations.
The Committee has also encouraged the formation of new Committees of LMPS, and the organisation of international meetings of logic, methodology and philosophy of science in areas where such activities have not been strong in the past.
Bulletin
The Secretary has continued publication of annual bulletins about the activities of the Division in Synthese and Studia Logica, by courtesy of the Editors of the two journals. These bulletins have also been distributed to the members of the Division.
The Treasurer presented the accounts set out in Appendix C. He discussed the financial situation of the Division and observed that almost all of its funds are now deposited on U.S. Dollar accounts; since most of the income and the expenditure of the Division is in dollars, this minimises the exchange losses and makes it possible to earn a substantial amount of interest.
At the beginning of its term the present Executive Committee adopted a budget outline for the period 1984-87, based on the assumption that the Division would receive approximately $10,000 per annum as dues from the Ordinary Members, about $5,000 per annum from ICSU, and $5,000 (during the four-year period) as royalties for the Proceedings of the 1983 Congress. It expected to spend about $10,000 per year for scientific meetings and colloquia, and $25,000 for the International Congress. Other expenditure (meetings of the Executive Committee, the office expenses of the Treasurer and the Secretary, etc.) should have been covered mainly by the interest from the bank accounts. This model worked well until 1985, when ICSU decreased its annual subvention from about $5,000 to less than $3,000. This loss of income has made it necessary for the Executive Committee to propose an increase in the unit of subscription from $100 to $125. This increase would enable the Division to maintain the conference subventions at the present level, about $10,000 per annum, during the next four-year period (excluding the support given to the International Congress). However, the proposed increase in the unit of subscription is not enough to compensate for the rate of inflation, and it is therefore quite possible that the next Executive Committee will have to propose another increase in 1991.
The Treasurer also presented an outline of the budget of the Division for 1988-1991.
The proposal by the Executive Committee to increase the unit of subscription from $100 to $125 was accepted after a vote, with 47 votes for the motion and 6 against it (14 abstentions).
The General Assembly authorised the Executive Committee to make budgetary determinations in the interval until the next General Assembly.
The following were elected to office for the period 1987-1991:
Assessors:
Alternate Assessors:
At the suggestion of the Programme Committee of the 8th International Congress, the Executive Committee has prepared a Congress Memorandum (Appendix D) which explains how the International Congresses of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science are organised, and how the responsibility for the Congress is divided among the Executive Committee of IUHPS/DLMPS, the Organising Committee, and the Programme Committee of the Congress. The Memorandum was adoted as a general guide for the organisation of the International Congresses of LMPS.
The Secretary informed the General Assembly that the possibility of issuing an in-vitation for the next Congress was currently under informal consideration in three member committees, but that it would be premature to name any of these. The General Assembly therefore authorised the Executive Committee to explore these possibilities further and to decide in due course, when one or more formal invitations become available, about the most suitable date and location.
The following appendices will be reprinted in full: Appendix A (English only) Appendix B Appendix C Appendix E
ARTICLE 1. The objectives of the Division of the Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science, hereinafter designated as the Division, are:
ARTICLE 2. The Division is affiliated, through the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science, to the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) for the purpose of achieving its scientific and scholarly objectives and furthering international understanding and cooperation in its field.
ARTICLE 3. The Division comprises two kinds of members: (1) Ordinary Members, (b) international bodies (international scientific organizations).
ARTICLE 4. An Ordinary Member shall be an Academy of Sciences, scientific society, national committee or other scientific institutions recognized by the General Assembly of the Division or by a majority of its members. Institutions and committees representing scientific activities in a definite territory or country may be accepted as Ordinary Members, but no country may be represented by more than one Ordinary Member except where the General Assembly decides otherwise.
ARTICLE 5. Any country may become and remain affiliated to the Division in the way indicated in Article 4, provided that it observes the requirements of the present Statutes. Each Ordinary Member of the Division creates a Committee for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science which advises the member organization in matters concerning the Division. The Committee shall communicate to the Secretary of the Division the name of its Chairman or Secretary.
ARTICLE 6. The application for membership in the Division is made to the Executive Committee, which makes a recommendation on the application to the members of the Division at a meeting of the General Assembly or by correspondence. The members shall accept or reject the application in the light of this recommendation at a meeting of the General Assembly or by correspondence; in the latter case acceptance requires support by a majority of the votes accorded to the members. The Ordinary Members are classified in 5 membership categories, A-E, with the corresponding voting powers and annual subscriptions (specified in Articles 10 and 21). The organization which seeks membership in the Division.must specify the category which it proposes for its classification. The proposal may be rejected by the members of the Division if it is judged to be manifestly inappropriate. An Ordinary Member may change its classification with the approval of the members of the Division upon recommendation of the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE 7. Membership status may be terminated: (a) by a letter of resignation, (b) by exclusion; this must be carried by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast at the General Assembly on a motion of the Executive Committee and for the following reasons: 1. non-payment of subscriptions for three consecutive years; 2. absence of scientific activity; 3. for serious reasons prejudicial to the interests of the Division. The proposal for exclusion may be carried only after inclusion in the agenda of the General Assembly and notification to the member in question at least four months before the General Assembly, and after the General Assembly has hear the explanation of the Member, or the member has signified its incapacity by failing to respond to a registered letter mailed at least four months previously.
ARTICLE 8. The administrative authority of the Division is exercised by: (a) the General Assembly; (b) the Council; (c) the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE 9. The General Assembly consists of the delegates of the Ordinary Members and delegates of the international scientific organizations. The number of votes accorded to the delegates is determined in Articles 10 and
ARTICLE 10. The Ordinary Members of the Division are classified in five categories, A, B, C, D and E. At the General Assembly, the number of votes accorded to the delegates of each Ordinary Member depends on its category as follows: Category A B C D E Votes 1 2 3 4 5 Voting by the General Assembly shall be by delegations, but each delegation may cast its votes either as a unit or divided in a way determined by the delegation. In voting by correspondence, each member casts its vote as a unit, counted as many times as its category indicates.
ARTICLE 11. Except where specified to the contrary in the Statutes, the decisions of the General Assembly are taken by a majority of votes recorded. If the number of votes cast for and against a proposal are equal, the President may use a casting vote in addition to any vote which he may have as a member of a delegation. Specially stipulated majorities are calculated as proportions of the number of votes recorded.
Members of the Council attend sessions of the General Assembly and take part in the discussions but their status as members of the Council give them no voting right.
ARTICLE 12. The Ordinary General Assembly is convened at least every fourth year by the President in office, normally during an International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science. At the request of a majority of the Ordinary Members or a majority of the Executive Committee, the President shall within six months convene an Extraordinary General Assembly.
ARTICLE 13. The Ordinary General Assembly of the Division has the following responsibilities:
The General Assembly may create scientific commissions and committees for the Division. The General Assembly may delegate to the Council or the Executive Committee a part of its powers for a period not exceeding four years.
ARTICLE 14. The summonses to each General Assembly with the complete agenda must be sent by the Secretary to all Ordinary Members and to all the international bodies adhering to the Division at least four months before the date of the meeting. Any question not appearing on the agenda may not be considered except with the prior assent of two-thirds of the votes cast, or, in the case of a proposal to modify the Statutes of the Union or the Division, or three-quarters of the votes cast.
ARTICLE 15. The General Assembly is validly constituted only if delegates possessing at least half of the valid voting power are present. Any Ordinary Member or inter-national member organization may be represented by proxy, provided that due notification of this intention and the name of the delegate are communicated in writing to the Secretary before the General Assembly.
ARTICLE 16. The Council consists of the 6 members of the Executive Committee and at least 6 assessors.
ARTICLE 17. The Executive Committee consists of the President, the First Vice-President, the Second Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the (immediate) Past President of the Division.
The members of the Executive Committee and the Council are elected at a General Assembly to serve in office for a period of four years. They are not eligible for immediate re-election to the same office with the exception of the Secretary and the Treasurer.
In the event that the President of the Division is unable to exercise his functions he is automatically replaced by the First Vice-President, in which case the Second Vice-President acquires the status of the First Vice-President. In the event that the Secretary or the Treasurer cannot exercise their functions, the President will nominate a person to replace him in his functions and as member of the Council and of the Executive Committee, subject to confirmation of two-thirds of the Council (excluding the member nominated).
ARTICLE 18. The Council establishes the rules of procedure for anything not provided for in these statutes. The rules can take effect immediately, but must be ratified by
the next General Assembly.
The Council is also responsible for ensuring the continuity of the Division's policies
and activities in the four-year interval between successive ordinary meetings of the
General Assembly.
ARTICLE 19. The Executive Committee is charged with the administration of the Division's business alad finance, and with the implementation of the resolutions taken by the General Assembly and the policies of the Council. Three members of the Committee, other than the Past President, constitute a quorum.
ARTICLE 20. The revenues of the Division are made up from: (a) subscriptions by Ordinary Members and international organizations; (b) subventions from ICSU; (c) other subventions, gifts and legacies, subject to approval by the Executive Committee; (d) the sale of publications.
ARTICLE 21. Each Ordinary Member pays the Division an annual subscription which depends on its category as follows: Category A B C D E Number of 1 2 4 8 16 subscription units The level of the unit of subsciption is determined by the General Assembly. The subscriptions for the international scientific organizations are determined by the General Assembly.
ARTICLE 22. Each Ordinary Member is responsible for the payment of the required subscription. If it has not done so for two years preceding the year of the General Assembly, it will not be permitted to vote in that Assembly.
ARTICLE 23. The official domicile of the Division is Brussels.
ARTICLE 24. These Statutes may only be amended by the General Assembly, with the provision that the total number of votes in favour of the change proposed is equal to at least two-thirds of the number of votes cast.
ARTICLE 25. Proposals formulated by a member for amendment of the Statutes of the Union or the Division must be sent to the Secretary at least five months before the date of the General Assembly at which they will be considered. The Secretary must bring to the knowledge of all Ordinary Members and all international bodies belonging to the Division at least four months before the General Assembly, any proposal of this nature that he has received.
ARTICLE 26. The life of the Division may be terminated only by an Extraordinary General Assembly and with the approval of at least two-thirds of the total number of votes assigned to the Ordinary Members and scientific organizations.
In the event of dissolution the assets of the Division shall be transferred to an international organization having activities similar to its own.
ARTICLE 27. Any Ordinary Member or international scientific organization which leaves the Division automatically forfeits all rights and privileges of membership.
ARTICLE 28. The present English and French texts of these statutes are valid for any interpretation of their provisions.
[Financial Appendix C to be added]
A. Ordinary Members
B. International Scientific Organizations
NOTE 1 In some cases the address given is that of the adhering organisation, not the address of the Committee of LMPS.