scholarly journals The Philosophy of Science

Philosophy of science studies the methods, theories, and concepts used by scientists. It mainly developed as a field in its own right during the twentieth century and is now a diversified and lively research area. This book surveys the current state of the discipline by focusing on central themes such as confirmation of scientific hypotheses, scientific explanation, causality, the relationship between science and metaphysics, scientific change, the relationship between philosophy of science and science studies, the role of theories and models, and unity of science. These themes define general philosophy of science. The book also presents subdisciplines in the philosophy of science dealing with the main sciences: logic, mathematics, physics, biology, medicine, cognitive science, linguistics, social sciences, and economics. Although it is common to address the specific philosophical problems raised by physics and biology in such a book, the place assigned to the philosophy of special sciences is much more unusual. Most authors collaborate on a regular basis in their research or teaching and share a common vision of philosophy of science and its place within philosophy and academia in general. The chapters have been written in close accordance with the three editors, thus achieving strong unity of style and tone.

Author(s):  
Teresa Obolevitch

Chapter 6 shows the presence of the topic of the relationship between faith and science in the thought of the most influential literature figures, such as Fedor Dostoevsky and Lev Tolstoy. Although Dostoevsky stressed the role of faith, his account by no means was a mere fideism. Dostoevsky respected natural science, even if he definitively marked the limits of the scientific explanation. Hence, he strove for an integral attitude embracing faith and reason in a single spiritual unity. By contrast, Lev Tolstoy was concerned about the absolute comprehensibility and rational obviousness of Christian truths, yet denied the significance of natural science.


2014 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Radder

The article consists of three main sections, in which I successively discuss the nature and role of realization, interpretation and abstraction in experimental and observational processes. In this way, these sections address several fundamental problems in philosophy of science, ontology and epistemology, and philosophy of language. Section 1 introduces the notion of realization processes, and argues that successful realization requires causal judgments. The second section discusses the role of conceptual interpretation in experiments and observations, explains how realization and interpretation can be distinguished, and emphasizes the significance of different types and ranges of experimental and observational reproducibility. It also includes a subsection on the issue of reproducibility in contemporary social sciences and psychology. Section 3 explains how concepts are abstracted from existing realization processes, and concludes that abstraction bestows a nonlocal meaning on these extensible concepts. In addition, I discuss and criticize some rival views of abstraction and concept meaning (to wit, mentalism and localism). The article concludes with some observations on the notion of a (cognitive) trinity.In my reply, I respond to the points raised in the six commentary papers. The following issues are addressed: the place of causality in physics (Steffen Ducheyne), perception in ordinary life (Monica Meijsing), the role of reproducibility in psychology and the social sciences (Daniël Lakens, Ruud Abma), the significance and implications of conceptual innovation (Lieven Decock), and the relationship between meaning, communication and ontology (Martin Stokhof and Michiel van Lambalgen).


Author(s):  
Svetlana Hvatova

The paper analyses the findings of the 4th International Academic Conference. The academics reported new information on the current state of religious practices of different faith communities, as well as identified the hieratic signs in the context of secular art. The reporting researchers also explored the state of the liturgical canon in a current religious practice and reviewed the sacral aspect of human life in the context of traditional religious practices. The scholars also discussed the role of hieratic art in community life, its educational and enlightening capacity, and the modern forms of representation of the sacred. For the fourth time, the common subject of the study brings together art historians, historians, culture researchers, educators, psychologists, theologians, philosophers, and a number of persons involved in spiritual enlightenment and education.


Author(s):  
Brad Skow

This chapter argues that the notion of explanation relevant to the philosophy of science is that of an answer to a why-question. From this point of view it surveys most of the historically important theories of explanation. Hempel’s deductive-nomological, and inductive-statistical, models of explanation required explanations to cite laws. Familiar counterexamples to these models suggested that laws are not needed, and instead that explanations should cite causes. One theory of causal explanation, David Lewis’s, is discussed in some detail. Many philosophers now reject causal theories of explanation because they think that there are non-causal explanations; some examples are reviewed. The role of probabilities and statistics in explanation, and their relation to causation, is also discussed. Another strategy for dealing with counterexamples to Hempel’s theory leads to unificationist theories of explanation. Kitcher's unificationist theory is presented, and a new argument against unificationist theories is offered. Also discussed in some detail are Van Fraassen’s pragmatic theory, and Streven’s and Woodward’s recent theories of causal explanation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 62-77
Author(s):  
Yulia V. Shaposhnikova ◽  
Lada V. Shipovalova ◽  

The intention of this article is to study the role of imagination in science. We are going to examine the communicative role that imagination plays in interdisciplinary scientific interaction. We are referring to that specific kind of interaction in which science is the object of research that is to a complicated situation in the contemporary science studies. We posit that the interaction between different disciplines engaged in the study of science is far from being concordant. This is especially true of the history and philosophy of science. Currently, the situation is such that, on the one hand, the philosophical reference to the historical research of science has proved being constructive in nature. On the other hand, historians remain mostly indifferent to the philosophy of science, seeking no methodological guidance from philosophers. Revealing the reasons for such an asymmetry of interests, and, as a consequence, the failure of the constructive interaction of history and philosophy of science, we analyze one hypothesis which directly refers to the work of imagination in the Kantian sense. Next, we determine that Kant's appeal to imagination opens the way for another interpretation of both the work of imagination and, as a result, the interaction of history and philosophy of science. We demonstrate why the analysis of the role of image, associated primarily with art, becomes relevant in modern research of science. Additionally, we turn to imagination, not just as a transcendental condition of knowledge but as an effective tool to organize specific research practices of interdisciplinary interaction. Therefore, an important component of our research is an appeal to a “successful” example of the synthesis of historical and philosophical research of science, which is the contemporary historical epistemology, in which one can see imagination in action.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 767
Author(s):  
Carmela Rinaldi ◽  
Luigi Donato ◽  
Simona Alibrandi ◽  
Concetta Scimone ◽  
Rosalia D’Angelo ◽  
...  

The neurovascular unit (NVU) is a relatively recent concept that clearly describes the relationship between brain cells and their blood vessels. The components of the NVU, comprising different types of cells, are so interrelated and associated with each other that they are considered as a single functioning unit. For this reason, even slight disturbances in the NVU could severely affect brain homeostasis and health. In this review, we aim to describe the current state of knowledge concerning the role of oxidative stress on the neurovascular unit and the role of a single cell type in the NVU crosstalk.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-104
Author(s):  
Maciej Czaplewski ◽  
Rafał Klóska

AbstractRegional development is firmly rooted in the theory of land management, and today’s considerations and analyses in this area are gaining special importance. The relationship between specific conditions and the observed effects of regional development was considered under various theoretical concepts. Additionally, the interdependence of processes taking place on the international, national and regional level renders it necessary to pursue, inter alia, an effective regional policy. In this study, particular attention was given to the premises and objectives of intentional actions taken both at supra-regional level (inter-regional policy) and regional level (intra-regional policy). The theoretical considerations concerning the regional policy carried out were supplemented with current statistics regarding the development of regions in Poland. The aim of the study is to show the role of regional policy in shaping regional development and to analyse its current state on the basis of own research using multidimensional comparative analysis (MCA) methods. The considerations presented in the article lead to the conclusion that regional policy is an important factor in regional development, and the presented research results allow to assess the current level and diversity of this development in Poland.


Exchange ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-249
Author(s):  
Radu Bordeianu

The 2013 convergence document, The Church: Towards a Common Vision (ctcv) incorporates several aspects of the response of the Napa Inter-Orthodox Consultation to The Nature and Mission of the Church (nmc) which, as its subtitle suggests, was A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement, namely The Church. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox responders (jointly!) point to the imprecise use of the term, ‘church’, the World Council of Churches (wcc)’s understanding of ‘the limits of the Church’, and to the ‘branch theory’ implicit in nmc, an ecclesiology toned down in ctcv. Bordeianu proposes a subjective recognition of the fullness of the church in one’s community as a possible way forward. Simultaneously, Orthodox representatives have grown into a common, ecumenical understanding of the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the church’s work for justice; attentiveness to the role of women in the church; and accepting new forms of teaching authority in an ecumenical context. The positions of various churches are no longer parallel monologues, but reflect earnest change and convergence.


2022 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 1041-1050
Author(s):  
N. A. Kurakina ◽  
I. S. Achinovich

Phono-stylistics is a promising research area. Expressive power of a text depends on its phonetic imagery. The research objective was to identify the pragmatic features of phonic expressive means in translations of contemporary English poetry. The methods included a comparative analysis, phono-semantic and phono-stylistic interpretation of the original poems and their translations, and O. N. Tynyanov's law of versification. The method of sound counting developed by E. V. Elkina and L. S. Yudina was used to calculate the frequency of sounds in the context of phono-semantic analysis in the Russian translations. The method of sound counting designed by Tsoi Vi Chuen Thomas was used to calculate the frequency of sounds in the original English texts. The theoretical foundation of the research was formed by the works by M. A. Balash, G. V. Vekshin, Z. S. Dotmurzieva, V. N. Elkina, A. P. Zhuravlev, L. V. Laenko, F. Miko, L. P. Prokofyeva, E. A. Titov, etc. The study featured the phonics and pragmatics of S. Dugdale’s poem Zaitz and its three translations made by E. Tretyakova, A. Shchetinina, and M. Vinogradova, and C. E. Duffy’s Anne Hathaway translated by Yu. Fokina. The author compared the pragmatics of sound imagery in the English originals and their Russian translations. The research made it possible to define the role of sound imagery in the poetic discourse, as well as the relationship between the sound organization of poetic speech and the pragmatic value at the phonographic level. The results can be used in courses of translation, stylistics, and phonetics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 63-89
Author(s):  
Paul Patton

The only subtype of epistemic agent currently recognized within scientonomy is community. The place of both individuals and epistemic tools in the scientonomic ontology is yet to be clarified. This paper extends the scientonomic ontology to include epistemic agents and epistemic tools as well as their relationship to one another. Epistemic agent is defined as an agent capable of taking epistemic stances towards epistemic elements. These stances must be taken intentionally, that is, based on a semantic understanding of the epistemic element in question and its available alternatives, with reason, and for the purpose of acquiring knowledge. I argue that there can be both communal and individual epistemic agents. Epistemic agents are linked by relationships of authority delegation based on their differing areas of expertise. Having established the role of epistemic agents in the process of scientific change, I then turn to the role of epistemic tools, such as a thermometer, a text, or a particle accelerator in epistemic activities. I argue that epistemic tools play a different role in scientific change than do epistemic agents. This role is specified by an agent’s employed method. A physical object or system is an epistemic tool for some epistemic agent if there is a procedure by which the tool can provide an acceptable source of knowledge for answering some question under the employed method of the agent. An agent is said to rely on such a tool. Suggested Modifications [Sciento-2019-0014]: Accept the following definition of epistemic agent: Epsitemic Agent ≡ an agent capable of taking epistemic stances towards epistemic elements. [Sciento-2019-0015]: Accept that there are two types of epistemic agents – individual and communal. Also accept the following question as a legitimate topic of scientonomic inquiry: Applicability of the Laws of Scientific Change to Individuals: do the scientonomic laws apply to individual epistemic agents? [Sciento-2019-0016]: Accept the term epistemic tool, with the following definition: Epistemic Tool ≡ a physical object or system is an epistemic tool for an epistemic agent, when there is a procedure by which the tool can provide an acceptable source of knowledge for answering some question under the employed method of that agent. [Sciento-2019-0017]: Accept the following definition of authority delegation, which generalizes the currently accepted definition to apply to all epistemic agents: Authority Delegation ≡ epistemic agent A is said to be delegating authority over question x to epistemic agent B iff (1) agent A accepts that agent B is an expert on question x and (2) agent A will accept a theory answering question x if agent B says so. Also accept the following redefinitions of subtypes of authority delegation, including mutual authority delegation, one-sided authority delegation, singular authority delegation, multiple authority delegation, hierarchical authority delegation, and non-hierarchical authority delegation: Mutual Authority Delegation ≡ epistemic agents A and B are said to be in a relationship of mutual authority delegation iff A delegates authority over question x to B, and B delegates authority over question y to A. One-Sided Authority Delegation ≡ epistemic agents A and B are said to be in a relationship of one-sided authority delegation iff A delegates authority over question x to B, but B doesn’t delegate any authority to A. Singular Authority Delegation ≡ epistemic agent A is said to engage in a relationship of singular authority delegation over question x iff A delegates authority over question x to exactly one epistemic agent. Multiple Authority Delegation ≡ epistemic agent A is said to engage in a relationship of multiple authority delegation over question x iff A delegates authority over question x to more than one epistemic agents. Hierarchical Authority Delegation ≡ a sub-type of multiple authority delegation where different epistemic agents are delegated different degrees of authority over question x. Non-Hierarchical Authority Delegation ≡ a sub-type of multiple authority delegation where different epistemic agents are delegated the same degree of authority over question x. [Sciento-2019-0018]: Accept the relationship of tool reliance can obtain between epistemic agents and epistemic tools. Accept the following definition of tool reliance: Tool Reliance ≡ an epistemic agent is said to rely on an epistemic tool when there is a procedure through which the tool can provide an acceptable source of knowledge for answering some question under the employed method of that agent.


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