Laplane, Lucie and Mantovani, Paolo and Adolphs, Ralph and Chang, Hasok and Mantovani, Alberto and McFall-Ngai, Margaret and Rovelli, Carlo and Sober, Elliott and Pradeu, Thomas (2019) Why science needs philosophy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (10). pp. 3948-3952.
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Abstract
\textgreater A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is—in my opinion—the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth. \textgreater \textgreater Albert Einstein, Letter to Robert Thornton, 1944 Despite the tight historical links between science and philosophy, present-day scientists often perceive philosophy as completely different from, and even antagonistic to, science. We argue here that, to the contrary, philosophy can have an important and productive impact on science. Despite the tight historical links between science and philosophy, hearkening back to Plato, Aristotle, and others (here evoked with Raphael’s famous School of Athens), present-day scientists often perceive philosophy as completely different from, and even antagonistic to, science. To the contrary, we believe philosophy can have an important and productive impact on science. Image credit: Shutterstock.com/Isogood_patrick. We illustrate our point with three examples taken from various fields of the contemporary life sciences. Each bears on cutting-edge scientific research, and each has been explicitly acknowledged by practicing researchers as a useful contribution to science. These and other examples show that philosophy’s contribution can take at least four forms: the clarification of scientific concepts, the critical assessment of scientific assumptions or methods, the formulation of new concepts and theories, and the fostering of dialogue between different sciences, as well as between science and society. ### Conceptual Clarification and Stem Cells. First, philosophy offers conceptual clarification. Conceptual clarifications not only improve the precision and utility of scientific terms but also lead to novel experimental investigations because the choice of a given conceptual framework strongly constrains how experiments are conceived. The definition of stem cells is a prime example. Philosophy has a long tradition of investigating properties, and the tools in use in this tradition …
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Keywords: | Philosophy of science; philosophy-science interactions; biology; physics; stem cells; cognitive science; immunology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science Education General Issues > Values In Science |
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| Depositing User: | Thomas Pradeu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 24 Oct 2020 19:46 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Modified: | 24 Oct 2020 19:46 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Item ID: | 18233 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official URL: | https://www.pnas.org/content/116/10/3948 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science Education General Issues > Values In Science |
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| Date: | March 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 3948-3952 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volume: | 116 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number: | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18233 |
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