Evening Lecture
Climbing Ladders, Building Bridges: Mathematical Philosophy at Work
The German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) invites you to an
Evening Lecture by Stephan Hartmann (MCMP/LMU) on Mathematical Philosophy, Science, and Public Policy
Introduction and Moderation: Branden Fitelson (Rutgers)
Welcome: Andrea Adam-Moore (Executive Director, German Universities Alliance)
Abstract
Mathematical Philosophy, Science, and Public Policy
Stephan Hartmann (LMU Munich)
What is the proper method of philosophy? To what extent does the philosophical method differ from the scientific method? Many philosophers believe that philosophy is an armchair activity and that the exact methods of the natural and social sciences cannot guide philosophical research. Scientific Philosophy, on the contrary, maintains that philosophical theses and arguments should be just as clear and precise as scientific ones: philosophers ought to build theories and models as much as scientists do; and the application of mathematical methods as well as input from empirical studies are often necessary in order to gain new insights into old philosophical questions and to progress to new and deeper ones. This talk spells out Scientific Philosophy by focusing on central themes from the philosophy of science. It focuses on understanding aspects of scientific rationality and presents descriptively adequate and normatively interesting models of intertheoretic relations, scientific reasoning, and decision-making in a scientific community. These topics have a philosophical as well as a scientific dimension, and addressing them requires a combination of methods from both areas.
Download the lecture slides here (PDF).
The public invitation by GCRI can be found online here.