Philosophy Of Science Research Articles

Mach, Russell, and Scientific Philosophizing: Re-visiting the Realistic Empiricism of Evolutionary Culture

Ernst Mach’s and Bertrand Russell’s philosophical outlooks contributed to shaping the philosophy of science of the 20th century. Mach is a philosophical interpreter of science, a positivist, and a historian, considering the general principles of science as condensed economic descriptions of observed facts. Russell held a view of the nature and relation of philosophy to science and to logic that can be described as essentially consistent. In this article, the aim is to explore how both Mach and Russell defended the classical version of “Neutral Monism”. Since it was developed as a reaction to the mechanical philosophy of nature, Neural Monism also emerged along with scientific psychology in the late 19th century. The attempt in this article is to examine their versions of neutral monism and emphasize their differences and convergences.

Mohammad Sjafei's Educational Philosophy from an Axiological Perspective

This research aims to describe Mohammad Sjafei's educational thinking from an axiological perspective in the philosophy of science. This study falls under the category of literature review and employs an interpretative-descriptive method. The author conducted a literature study to gather sources, then utilized relevant sources for the interpretation process, followed by presenting the interpretation results in well-structured sentences. The research findings depict Mohammad Sjafei as a national educational figure who has formulated educational concepts embodying values of freedom, character, ethics, and religiosity. Sjafei agrees with Dewey's notion that the pattern of education through learning and working will shape character, social sense, and mutual assistance. Students are taught tasks aligned with their talents and interests to prepare them for the future, with the hope of nurturing independent Indonesian youths.Keywords: Axiological, Philosophy of Science, Ethics, Religiosity.

Towards a Benchmark for Scientific Understanding in Humans and Machines

Scientific understanding is a fundamental goal of science. However, there is currently no good way to measure the scientific understanding of agents, whether these be humans or Artificial Intelligence systems. Without a clear benchmark, it is challenging to evaluate and compare different levels of scientific understanding. In this paper, we propose a framework to create a benchmark for scientific understanding, utilizing tools from philosophy of science. We adopt a behavioral conception of understanding, according to which genuine understanding should be recognized as an ability to perform certain tasks. We extend this notion of scientific understanding by considering a set of questions that gauge different levels of scientific understanding, covering information retrieval, the capability to arrange information to produce an explanation, and the ability to infer how things would be different under different circumstances. We suggest building a Scientific Understanding Benchmark (SUB), formed by a set of these tests, allowing for the evaluation and comparison of scientific understanding. Benchmarking plays a crucial role in establishing trust, ensuring quality control, and providing a basis for performance evaluation. By aligning machine and human scientific understanding we can improve their utility, ultimately advancing scientific understanding and helping to discover new insights within machines.

Preservice Teachers’ Level of Knowledge on Elements and Rationale for Nature of Science: Towards Advancing Quality Instruction

This study investigates preservice teachers’ knowledge of elements and rationale for Nature of Science (NOS). Skill gap is established in the literature on pedagogical practices of preservice as well as novice teachers of science, reflecting deficiency in their professional training and eventual classroom practice. Examining preservice teachers’ knowledge in these aspects (elements & rationale) of NOS through a quasi-experiment of one-group pretest and post-test design was done. Instructional intervention over two years along with assignments and presentation with researchers as moderators on the science pedagogy module (History of Science and Philosophy of Science) serves as stimuli over the period. Three research questions and two hypotheses were raised to guide this study. One hundred and thirty-six (112 Life Science and 24 Physical Science) preservice teachers were the participants. Element of NOS (ENOS) and Rationale for NOS (RNOS) were the instruments. Reliability of the instruments yielded Cronbach alpha values of .83, .91 and .86 across dimensions of clarity, coherence and relevance by fifteen experienced science educators. Data was analysed using t-test and ANCOVA. The study found the intervention to effectively improve the knowledge of elements and rationale for NOS. Better prepared teachers (More Knowledge Order [MKO] have the potential to improved Zone of Proximal Development [ZPD] in learners) by implication have the competence to guide learners for qualitative and effective learning. The instruments in this study is recommended for foundational training of preservice teachers on NOS for enhanced instruction.

Islamic Ethics and Nutrigenomics: A Methodological Approach to Constructing a Theoretical Framework

Individualised nutrition based on knowledge of nutrigenomics is becoming a major scientific and health interest subject worldwide. Still, it adds a layer of complexity that may benefit and harm the social aspects of eating. In the case of advancing the knowledge of gene–nutrient interactions and other scientific disciplines, all religious communities of the world, including Muslims, have statements of principles that express the identity and commitment defining one community from others. To properly develop a religiously acceptable framework that encompasses important aspects of the Islamic tradition, indirect input from Islamic scientific philosophers, scholars, luminaries and source materials is required. Without trying to be thorough, this work addresses that need and provides new opportunities for future research and publishing in Islamic ethics, genome, and food (nature). It also analyses Muslim scholars’ arguments and deliberations on the ethical framework that extends beyond the binary dichotomy between right and wrong (al-ʾamr bi al-maʿrūf wa al-nahy ʿan al-munkar) in Islamic jurisprudence. This qualitative study utilised a range of Islamic intellectual voices to build a theoretical framework of Islamic ethics in nutrigenomics based on constructivist grounded theory as the broader research approach. Constant conversation between nutrigenomics (modern science) and Islamic ethics is suggested to help Muslims grasp this dialectic better. It is only by taking a more comprehensive view incorporating theological, spiritual, jurisprudential, and social dimensions that one can make a stronger case and construct a foundational theoretical framework to build applications of Islamic ethics in nutrigenomics. Likewise, a systematic approach to developing a framework anchored in these sources is required to properly place the area of Islamic ethics in nutrigenomics and pave the way for future research on indigenous intervention development.

Practices and normativity: Philosophy of Science, Agency and Epistemic Normativity

The present work aims to present the notion of eidetic agency as a novel account for the understanding of an epistemic normativity based on practices. The eidetic agency (Fonseca, 2020) and (Fonseca, 2023) is a modality of material agency that, scaffolded and extensively, delegates epistemic agency to formal artifacts that become evident in the materiality of the signifiers of artificial languages. Such eidetic artifacts constitute an epistemic normativity that, although it is based on implicit practices and norms of scientific practices, overcome certain problems derived from that reading. The first section of the text presents a definition and general analysis of the project of a normative epistemology based on practices. In the second part, the relationship between practices in science and scientific regulations is deeply analyzed, based on the premises of Martínez and Huang (2011). Finally, a possible solution to the theoretical problems derived from such reading is proposed, with the approach of an epistemic normativity based on eidetic agents.

The Gift of Intelligence and the Sacramentality of Real Presence: Overcoming the Dataist Metaphysics of Modern Cognitivism

AbstractIn the last twenty‐five years scientific research on embodied cognition and related discussions in the philosophy of technology and science have led to two groundbreaking insights: 1. Perceptions, memories, meanings, and volitions are neither located in the brain nor reducible to intentional acts of ‘autonomous subjects’. 2. Human intelligence is always embedded in an embodied, simultaneously natural and artificial environment that is charged with meaning. These insights are compatible with holistic, relational concepts of embodied intelligence in the tradition of sapiential thinkers like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Nicholas of Cusa, and related sacramental ontologies. The modern break with this tradition was inspired by the dataist metaphysics of the ‘Gutenberg revolution’ and culminated in the thesis that human cognition is a kind of pattern extraction or the upshot of the synthesis of elementary sensory data. By contrast, the fact that the business of pattern‐extraction has become replaceable by the work of ‘artificial intelligences’ calls two things to mind: First, the late‐modern confusion of human with ‘artificial intelligence’ is the upshot of a reductionist metaphysics that provoked an unhealthy assimilation of human cognition to the way machines work. Second, in order to strengthen what distinguishes human intelligence from ‘artificial intelligences’, we need to recover the premodern unity of being, truth, beauty and the good, starting from a holistic, trinitarian anthropology. As the most recent research on Human Computer Interaction (HCI) shows, this requires a revision of our modern, instrumental attitude toward technical artifacts which emerged in the Age of the Reformation. Seen from this angle, the recovery of the sacramental ontology of premodernity has become a matter of urgency not primarily in terms of theological developments but in terms of the very innovations that provoked its modern ‘disenchantment’.

Who ought to look towards the horizon? A qualitative study on the collective social responsibility of scientific research

There is a growing concern for the proper role of science within democratic societies, which has led to the development of new science policies for the implementation of social responsibility in research. Although the very expression ‘social responsibility of science’ may be interpreted in different ways, many of these emerging policy frameworks define it, at least in part, as a form of anticipative reflection about the potential impacts of research in society. What remains a rather under-discussed issue is the definition of the bearer of the social responsibility of science. In other words, it is not clear who is supposed to engage in such an anticipative reflection, whether individual researchers or research groups. In the past few years, philosophers of science have begun to use qualitative research methods to fill the gaps between normative models of the organisation of ideal scientific communities and the reality of actual scientific practices. In this article, I follow this approach to discuss the issue of the collective dimension of the social responsibility of science. I rely on a qualitative study conducted on an interdisciplinary research group and I describe how group dynamics position individuals and distribute duties and roles, including social responsibility. Qualitative descriptions of the distribution of duties within actual research groups should inform the formulation of general prescriptive theories on the collective responsibility of science.

Promises and Perils of Big Data: Philosophical Constraints on Chemical Ontologies.

Chemistry is experiencing a paradigm shift in the way it interacts with data. So-called "big data" are collected and used at unprecedented scales with the idea that algorithms can be designed to aid in chemical discovery. As data-enabled practices become ever more ubiquitous, chemists must consider the organization and curation of their data, especially as it is presented to both humans and increasingly intelligent algorithms. One of the most promising organizational schemes for big data is a construct termed an ontology. In data science, ontologies are systems that represent relations among objects and properties in a domain of discourse. As chemistry encounters larger and larger data sets, the ontologies that support chemical research will likewise increase in complexity, and the future of chemistry will be shaped by the choices made in developing big data chemical ontologies. How such ontologies will work should therefore be a subject of significant attention in the chemical community. Now is the time for chemists to ask questions about ontology design and use: How should chemical data be organized? What can be reasonably expected from an organizational structure? Is a universal ontology tenable? As some of these questions may be new to chemists, we recommend an interdisciplinary approach that draws on the long history of philosophers of science asking questions about the organization of scientific concepts, constructs, models, and theories. This Perspective presents insights from these long-standing studies and initiates new conversations between chemists and philosophers.

The concept of “document” in the epistemological system of knowledge: A methodological discourse in the philosophy of science

Transformational changes in the modern scientific environment are conditioned by the information and technological development of all branches, among which document science has undergone significant changes due to digitalisation and the development of e-documenting, which leads to changes in the object of research and the expansion of interdisciplinary tasks and indicates the transition of the philosophy of science to a new stage of development. In the process of objectifying the conceptual search of philosophers of science, there was an evolution from relatively simple systems in the classical period to complex systems in the non-classical period and to complex systems that self-develop. The purpose of this study is to clarify the epistemological essence of the concept of “document” through the methodological prism of the theories of the philosophy of science. In the research process, general scientific methods and special methods of philosophy, documentation science, archival science, information science, and social communication were used. The synergy of general scientific and specialised methods, along with philosophical methodology, allowed for a comprehensive exploration of the concept of “document” as a sociocultural phenomenon, analysis of the philosophical characteristics of the document, and identification of interdisciplinary connections. Emphasis has been placed on positivist achievements, which have contributed not only to the activation of the search for and establishment of the informativeness of documents and their quantitative increase but also to the theoretical study of carriers of information from the past. Such processes have enriched knowledge about documents, contributing to the expansion of their methodological and epistemological boundaries. It should be noted that the post-positivist stage has caused philosophical discussions between representatives of the “historical school” and “critical rationalism”. The structure-forming functions of scientific knowledge and the sociologisation of the examination of the scientific information space, based on the methodology of the philosophy of science, have led to the acquisition of modern characteristics by document science, the development of complex interdisciplinary connections that ensure the integrity of the study of the document phenomenon. Thanks to the methodology of the philosophy of science in the research, the ideas of the unity of scientific knowledge, the epistemological and philosophical methodological determinism of document science, and the integral significance of philosophy in constructing a holistic scientific picture of the world have been revealed. The conceptual and terminological toolkits and mechanisms for introducing the philosophical concepts of determinism, causality, space, and time into the documentary discourse have been defined. Such modern trends in the development of the philosophy of science and an interdisciplinary approach to the scientific and theoretical substantiation of document science issues will contribute to the development of the discussion on documentation science issues and will lead to the emergence of new theoretical and methodological developments in the field of social communications

Social Quality Management in the Lens of Philosophy and Methodology of Science

Relevance. Quality problems have been relevant for many centuries. At the same time, quality is viewed from the perspective of various sciences and industries indirectly: as a category identified with any sphere. Quality management is also of interest to many scientists and specialists, but most often in the technical or economic sphere. At the same time, its social aspect is obvious. Moreover, in the context of social management (social) quality management is an effective tool aimed at ensuring and improving the quality of life. However, despite the widespread application and adaptation of (social) quality management in various fields of science and practice, philosophical understanding is presented quite selectively. In this regard, in this study, it is advisable to present social quality management from the perspective of philosophy and methodology of science.Purpose. In the work, the author sets himself the purpose of conducting a comprehensive analysis of social quality management from a philosophical and methodological perspective.Objectives. To achieve this goal, it is relevant to solve the following tasks: analysis of social quality management as a post-non-classical concept of the philosophy of complexity; assessment and interpretation of social quality management in a broad plane of humanitarianism; attempt to define the philosophical understanding of social quality management.Methodology. To achieve this goal, the author uses in his work such methods and methodologies as the theory of complexity (complexity), the semiotic-digital dimension, and the methodology for constructing sociotechnical landscapes of digital reality. Results. The paper presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of social quality management from a philosophical and methodological perspective.Conclusions. Based on the results of the study, the author's understanding of social quality management in a philosophical and methodological context is substantiated; social quality management is presented as a concept of the complexity paradigm; the interrelationships of social quality management and the sociotechnical landscape of digital reality in a single field of modern humanities are established.

Emergence in Complex Physiological Processes: The Case of Vitamin B12 Functions in Erythropoiesis

In this paper, we will explore the relation between molecular structure and functions displayed by biochemical molecules in complex physiological processes by using tools from the philosophy of science and the philosophy of scientific practice. We will argue that biochemical functions are weakly emergent from molecular structure by using an account of weak. In order to explore this thesis, we will consider the role of vitamin B12 in contributing to the process of erythropoiesis. The structure of the paper is the following: First, we will consider biochemical functions and why they cannot be easily reduced to their chemical realisers. We will suggest weak emergence as an alternative while also accounting for the relevance of the context, in our case, systemic and organisational. The paper will conclude by considering (1) how the usage of tools from the philosophy of science, such as weak emergence, can aid our understanding of the relations between the components of complex phenomena, such as erythropoiesis, and (2) how the philosophy of scientific practice sheds light on the explanatory role of processes that are dynamically stabilised and the different levels of organisation implied.

The Role of Defense Science Philosophy in Determining Strategies to Maintain The Sovereignty and Integrity of The Unitary State of The Republic Indonesia in Industrial Revolution 4.0

The Role of Defense Science Philosophy in Determining Strategies to Maintain The Sovereignty and Integrity of The Unitary State of The Republic Indonesia in Industrial Revolution 4.0

Когнитивный механизм мировоззренческих моделей: структура и принципы функционирования

The work is devoted to the little-studied problem of cognitive elements of worldview. The subject of analysis is the cognitive mechanism of functioning of worldview models. A theoretical and methodological construct for studying the dynamic states of various worldview models was developed, which was based on the functional directions of the philosophy of cognitive science and cognitive science. The goal is to identify predictors of dynamics (prognostic parameters of variables) that make it possible to predict trends in changes in worldview models. The structure of the cognitive mechanism of worldview models is described, the elements of which are cognitions - cognitive elements of consciousness, or mental processes of information processing. The empirical part of the study, devoted to testing the hypothesis about the principles of functioning of the cognitive mechanism of worldview models, made it possible to conduct a quantitative analysis of some parameters that are most susceptible to external influence. The result was the conceptualization of the cognitive mechanism of worldview models and the identification of criteria for its dynamics. It has been established that the functional cognitive-value mechanism is represented by a set of processes of perception, reception, representation and memory. It has been proven that parameters such as assessment of the surrounding world, assessment of threats and risks, personal control, and memory can become objects of influence on the worldview in order to change it. The results obtained made it possible to formulate the principles of cognitive technologies of consciousness control necessary to control destructive forms of behavior. The study was conducted with the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation within the framework of the project “Cognitive and value structure of worldview models of modern Russians: generational and regional differences.”

Science and the Question of Truth

The pursuit of scientific truth has long engaged philosophers of science. Miriam Solomon’s work in Social Empiricism introduces "Whig realism," which proposes that empirical success in science reflects some underlying truths within theories. This paper examines Solomon’s argument and discusses its response to a traditional scientific realism argument. I then critique Solomon’s treatment of decision vectors and their usage in determining when dissent is normatively appropriate. I conclude that, while Solomon’s framework provides some insights into the dynamics of scientific progress, concerns arise regarding its application.

Economic models and their flexible interpretations: a philosophy of science perspective

ABSTRACT We mobilise contemporary philosophy of science to further clarify observations on economic modelling made by Gilboa et al. (2023). We adopt a normative stance towards these modelling practices to identify the extent to which they are epistemically justified. Our message is simple: many of the distinctions proposed by Gilboa et al. (2023) are useful, but without the proper qualifications, too much flexibility in choosing the right interpretation risks downplaying the crucial role that empirical evidence should play in any modelling endeavour.

Understanding in mathematics: The case of mathematical proofs

AbstractAlthough understanding is the object of a growing literature in epistemology and the philosophy of science, only few studies have concerned understanding in mathematics. This essay offers an account of a fundamental form of mathematical understanding: proof understanding. The account builds on a simple idea, namely that understanding a proof amounts to rationally reconstructing its underlying plan. This characterization is fleshed out by specifying the relevant notion of plan and the associated process of rational reconstruction, building in part on Bratman's theory of planning agency. It is argued that the proposed account can explain a significant range of distinctive phenomena commonly associated with proof understanding by mathematicians and philosophers. It is further argued, on the basis of a case study, that the account can yield precise diagnostics of understanding failures and can suggest ways to overcome them. Reflecting on the approach developed here, the essay concludes with some remarks on how to shape a general methodology common to the study of mathematical and scientific understanding and focused on human agency.

Study on the Game of Carbon Disclosure under the Perspective of Philosophy of Science and Technology

The society gradually pays attention to carbon information disclosure, and it is very important for human beings to pay attention to carbon information disclosure and the formulation of a series of regulations in their actions on climate issues, but some enterprise subjects ignore carbon emissions and falsely disclose carbon information based on the principle of profit maximization, which leads to the difficulty of solving environmental problems. From the perspective of philosophy of science and technology, this paper tries to study the game strategy and information asymmetry among enterprises in different situations by taking information asymmetry as an entry point through game theory and Bayes' theorem, further analyze the negative impacts of false disclosure of enterprises and the chaos caused by the tragedy of the commons, etc., and analyze and interpret them through the theory of environmental justice and environmental ethics, and finally analyze and interpret them from the aspects of reducing information asymmetry. Finally, we summarize and reflect on the aspects of reducing information asymmetry, introducing environmental system and formulating industry norms.

The demarcation problem in the applied sciences

The demarcation problem in the applied sciences refers to the challenge of discerning between progressive, stagnant, and improper model development programs. We examine the demarcation problem from the perspectives of two influential philosophers of science, Imre Lakatos and Thomas Kuhn, using the evolutionary development of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) for illustration. We propose objective criteria.

Three Marxist Lessons for 21st-Century History and Philosophy of Science

Three Marxist Lessons for 21st-Century History and Philosophy of Science