Introduction: philosophy of science in practice

Abstract

Philosophy of science is booming-at least in sheer quantitative terms, such as the numbers of scholars and professional organizations associated with the field. On the surface, one might attribute these trends to the concurrent growth of science itself, along with the large amounts of funding committed to scientific research and the lasting cultural power of scientific paradigms in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Yet, much work in the philosophy of science continues in nearly complete isolation from real scientific practice. The Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP) grew out of a recognition of the need to promote the philosophical study of "science in practice", by which the organizers of the Society meant both scientific practice and the functioning of science in practical realms of life. Despite occasional exceptions such as some recent literature on models, experimentation, and measurement which have engaged in detailed consideration of scientific practices in pursuit of their philosophical points, concern with practice has tended to fall outside the mainstream of Anglophone analytic philosophy of science. SPSP was founded with the aim of changing this situation, through the promotion of

The many faces of biological individuality

“…The move from theory-centrism (Objection #2) to a stronger attention to practices and experimental contexts is made in many parts of current philosophy of science (e.g., Waters 2008;Ankeny et al 2011;Love 2015), and this move is gaining prominence in the debate about biological individuality (Chen 2016;Fagan 2016;Love and Brigandt 2017). The combination of historical and philosophical approaches (in response to Objection #3) is the main topic of a forthcoming volume edited by Scott Lidgard and Lynn Nyhart (Lidgard and Nyhart 2017).…”

Normativity in the Philosophy of Science

“…Accordingly, some philosophers of science in practice argue that examining the goals of scientific activities requires not only epistemological considerations but also reflections on “the values, norms, and ideals inherent in the pursuit of scientific knowledge” (Ankeny et al , 305). This might suggest that any philosophical theory in the philosophy of science in practice must refer to epistemic or social norms and thus be object normative.…”

“Genetic Load”

“…The emphasis on the practicality of science -significant enough to lead to developing subfields of philosophy and history of science in practices (Ankeny, Chang, Boumans, & Boon 2011;Leonelli 2012;Müller-Wille & Charmantier 2012) -, and maybe more importantly, the systematic approach that enables historians to interpret a seminal debate about experimental science in relation with its political fallout without judgment as to the intrinsic scientific value of the arguments involved (Shapin & Schaffer 1985), may prevent from an approach that seeks for 'scientific' concepts that betray the penetration of ideology in critical theoretical phases.…”