scholarly journals The Truth About Better Understanding?

Erkenntnis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis Ross
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Contemporary Epistemology ◽  
Catherine Elgin

AbstractThe notion of understanding occupies an increasingly prominent place in contemporary epistemology, philosophy of science, and moral theory. A central and ongoing debate about the nature of understanding is how it relates to the truth. In a series of influential contributions, Catherine Elgin has used a variety of familiar motivations for antirealism in philosophy of science to defend a non-factive theory of understanding. Key to her position are: (1) the fact that false theories can contribute to the upwards trajectory of scientific understanding, and (2) the essential role of inaccurate idealisations in scientific research. Using Elgin’s arguments as a foil, I show that a strictly factive theory of understanding has resources with which to offer a unified response to both the problem of idealisations and the role of false theories in the upwards trajectory of scientific understanding. Hence, strictly factive theories of understanding are viable notwithstanding these forceful criticisms.

Narrative in Views of Humanity, Science, and Action: Lessons for Cognitive Therapy

1991 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Cognitive Therapy ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Philosophy Of Action ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Historical View ◽  
Constructivist View ◽  
Realist View

The role of narrative constructs in philosophical views of humanity, science, and action is presented and contrasted with more familiar constructs that influence cognitive therapy. In terms of philosophical views of humanity, the view of human beings as rational animals is contrasted with a novel view emphasizing humanity’s unique storytelling nature. In terms of the philosophy of science, a positivistic, somewhat realist view is contrasted with a constructivist view in which narrative plays an essential role in explaining how theory succession takes place. In terms of the philosophy of action, partitive, ahistorical accounts of action are contrasted with a more holistic, historical view, one which necessitates narrative to account for actions intentionally oriented to the realization of an agent’s desires. The turn toward narrative in each of these areas also provides lessons concerning innovative ways to conduct cognitive therapy. In concluding, it is suggested that further investigation of narrative processes in cognitive therapy can broaden and deepen our understanding of the representational process undergirding adaptation and change.

Science

2020 ◽  
pp. 112-123
Author(s):  
Subrena E. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Values In Science ◽  
Scientific Communities ◽  
Scientific Objectivity ◽  
Helen Longino

Anna Morandi was the foremost anatomist in eighteenth-century Bologna. Although her work was widely recognized as exceptional by the scientists of her day, she was not granted the standing of a scientist. In this chapter, the author uses Morandi as a case study to illuminate aspects of the philosophy of science. In particular, the chapter addresses conceptions of scientific objectivity and the role of social values in science, drawing on the work of Helen Longino. In addition to the phenomena described by Longino, the author argues that social values enter into science and impact scientific research by determining how individuals are positioned in scientific communities, or excluded from them.

scholarly journals Explicationist Epistemology and the Explanatory Role of Knowledge

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik J. Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Natural Kind ◽  
Philosophical Method ◽  
Gettier Problem ◽  
Explanatory Role ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Contemporary Epistemology ◽  
The Gettier Problem ◽  
Do So

AbstractIt has been argued that much of contemporary epistemology can be unified under Carnap’s methodology of explication, which originated in the neighboring field of philosophy of science. However, it is unclear to what extent epistemological theories that emphasize the explanatory role of knowledge fit into this picture, Kornblith’s natural kind epistemology and Williamson’s knowledge first approach being cases in point. In this connection, I raise three questions. Can we harvest the insights of these approaches without loss in the more standard and less idiosyncratic explicationist framework? Can we do so without falling prey to prominent criticism raised against those approaches? Finally, do the approaches come out as coherent under an explicationist rendering? I argue that in Kornblith’s case the answer to all three questions is essentially in the affirmative. Much of the knowledge first approach is also translatable into explicationism. However, from that perspective, Williamson’s central argument for treating knowledge as undefinable, referring to persistent yet unsuccessful attempts to solve the Gettier problem, amounts to an overreaction to that problem. Leaving explicationism aside, I ask, in the penultimate section, what Williamson’s own philosophical method really amounts to.

scholarly journals Understanding “expert” scientists: Implications for management and organization research

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 534-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktor Dörfler ◽  
Colin Eden
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Organization Research

This article contributes to the debate about rigor and relevance in management and organization research. The contribution derives from an empirical inquiry into the view of the research process of acknowledged experts in scientific research: Nobel Laureates. The research was conducted through loosely structured in-depth interviews with, and background information about, 19 of these expert researchers. The analysis of the interviews suggests emergent themes of the process of successful research that are likely to be relevant to the conduct of management and organization research. We focus on three themes from our interviews: the role of the “big leap” and its relationship to intuition; the significance of seeing both the “big picture” and the detail; and the ways of building and developing successful research teams. We set out our findings from the interviews in the context of the literature from history and philosophy of science and examine the implications for management and organization research.

scholarly journals The Illusion of Depth of Understanding in Science

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petri Ylikoski
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Scientific Cognition ◽  
Substantial Role ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Psychological Experiments

Philosophers of science have a long tradition of making a connection between explanation and understanding, but only lately have they started to give the latter notion a substantial role in their theories. In this chapter I will employ a well-known scientific research heuristic of studying how something works by focusing on circumstances in which it does not work. Rather than trying to describe what scientific understanding would ideally look like, I will try to learn something about it by looking at mundane cases where understanding is partly illusory. The main thesis of this paper will be the following: scientists are prone to the illusion of depth of understanding (IDU), and as a consequence, they sometimes overestimate the detail, coherence, and depth of their understanding. I will start my argument by presenting an analysis of the notion of understanding and its relation to a sense of understanding. In order to make plausible the claim that these are often disconnected, I will describe an interesting series of psychological experiments by Frank Keil and co-authors. These experiments suggest that ordinary people routinely overestimate the depth of their understanding. In Section 3, I will argue that we should take seriously the possibility that scientific cognition is also affected by IDU. Section 4 will spell out some possible causes of explanatory illusions in science. In the final section, I will discuss how scientific explanatory practices could be improved and how the philosophy of science might be able to contribute to this process.

Essential role of Sharpin in TNFα dependent NFκB activation in primary hepatocytes

2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Lange ◽  
S Sieber ◽  
A Erhardt ◽  
G Sass ◽  
HJ Kreienkamp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Essential Role ◽  
Primary Hepatocytes

Different Abilities of Thrombin Receptor Activating Peptide and Thrombin to Induce Platelet Calcium Rise and Full Release Reaction

1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (05) ◽  
pp. 1323-1328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Lasne ◽  
José Donato ◽  
Hervé Falet ◽  
Francine Rendu
Keyword(s):  
Essential Role ◽  
Calcium Influx ◽  
Dense Granule ◽  
Receptor Interaction ◽  
Thrombin Receptor ◽  
Release Reaction ◽  
External Calcium ◽  
Maximum Rise ◽  
Granule Release

SummarySynthetic peptides (TRAP or Thrombin Receptor Activating Peptide) corresponding to at least the first five aminoacids of the new N-terminal tail generated after thrombin proteolysis of its receptor are effective to mimic thrombin. We have studied two different TRAPs (SFLLR, and SFLLRN) in their effectiveness to induce the different platelet responses in comparison with thrombin. Using Indo-1/AM- labelled platelets, the maximum rise in cytoplasmic ionized calcium was lower with TRAPs than with thrombin. At threshold concentrations allowing maximal aggregation (50 μM SFLLR, 5 μM SFLLRN and 1 nM thrombin) the TRAPs-induced release reaction was about the same level as with thrombin, except when external calcium was removed by addition of 1 mM EDTA. In these conditions, the dense granule release induced by TRAPs was reduced by over 60%, that of lysosome release by 75%, compared to only 15% of reduction in the presence of thrombin. Thus calcium influx was more important for TRAPs-induced release than for thrombin-induced release. At strong concentrations giving maximal aggregation and release in the absence of secondary mediators (by pretreatment with ADP scavengers plus aspirin), SFLLRN mobilized less calcium, with a fast return towards the basal level and induced smaller lysosome release than did thrombin. The results further demonstrate the essential role of external calcium in triggering sustained and full platelet responses, and emphasize the major difference between TRAP and thrombin in mobilizing [Ca2+]j. Thus, apart from the proteolysis of the seven transmembrane receptor, another thrombin binding site or thrombin receptor interaction is required to obtain full and complete responses.

Collagen-Induced Platelet Aggregation: -Evidence Against the Essential Role of Platelet Adenosine Diphosphate

1979 ◽  
Vol 42 (04) ◽  
pp. 1193-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Nunn
Keyword(s):  
Platelet Aggregation ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Atp Release ◽  
Adenosine Diphosphate ◽  
Human Platelets ◽  
High Doses ◽  
Induced Aggregation

SummaryThe hypothesis that platelet ADP is responsible for collagen-induced aggregation has been re-examined. It was found that the concentration of ADP obtaining in human PRP at the onset of aggregation was not sufficient to account for that aggregation. Furthermore, the time-course of collagen-induced release in human PRP was the same as that in sheep PRP where ADP does not cause release. These findings are not consistent with claims that ADP alone perpetuates a collagen-initiated release-aggregation-release sequence. The effects of high doses of collagen, which released 4-5 μM ADP, were not inhibited by 500 pM adenosine, a concentration that greatly reduced the effect of 300 μM ADP. Collagen caused aggregation in ADP-refractory PRP and in platelet suspensions unresponsive to 1 mM ADP. Thus human platelets can aggregate in response to collagen under circumstances in which they cannot respond to ADP. Apyrase inhibited aggregation and ATP release in platelet suspensions but not in human PRP. Evidence is presented that the means currently used to examine the role of ADP in aggregation require investigation.

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