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Political philosophy of experimentation

Simons, Massimiliano (2025) Political philosophy of experimentation. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 15. ISSN 1879-4912

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Abstract

In this article, I sketch out the contours of a political philosophy of experimentation.Drawing on the work of Joseph Rouse, Hans Radder, Gilbert Hottois, and Jerome Ravetz, I argue that such a political philosophy of experimentation already exists, but has often been rendered invisible. Mainstream Anglophone philosophy of science often focuses on epistemological questions, typically at the expense of political questions about science. I argue that such a politicization of philosophy of science can be linked to the topic of experimentation, which transforms epistemologicalquestions about representations of the world into political questions aboutinterventions in the world. In the first section of the article, I examine the work of a number of political philosophers of experimentation in order to make explicit what I mean by a “political” philosophy of experimentation. In the second section of the article, I present a systematized argument why a philosophy of experimentation should be political. Finally, in the last section, I map out more explicitly the set of questions that are central to such a political philosophy of experimentation,in particular questions about what I call the politics of interaction, referring to how science and society should interact; the politics of organization, referring to how science should be organized; and the philosopher as political activist, referring to the question of whether philosophers should also act on their theories.


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Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Simons, MassimilianoMassimiliano.simons@gmail.com0000-0001-8751-9152
Keywords: Philosophy of experimentation, Political philosophy, Joseph Rouse, Hans Radder, Gilbert Hottois, Jerome Ravetz
Subjects: General Issues > Ethical Issues
General Issues > Experimentation
General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
General Issues > Science and Policy
General Issues > Technology
Depositing User: Dr. Massimiliano Simons
Date Deposited: 05 Dec 2025 13:48
Last Modified: 05 Dec 2025 13:48
Item ID: 27381
Journal or Publication Title: European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Publisher: Springer
Official URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13194-0...
Subjects: General Issues > Ethical Issues
General Issues > Experimentation
General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
General Issues > Science and Policy
General Issues > Technology
Date: 2025
Volume: 15
ISSN: 1879-4912
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/27381

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