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FFF: Armond Duwell
February 20 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST
Title: Problems and Possibilities: A Theory of Scientific Understanding
Abstract: In this talk I will discuss joint work with Soazig Le Bihan on a novel theory of scientific understanding. Extant theories of scientific understanding fail to be suitably comprehensive. Either they fail to countenance relevant kinds of scientific understanding, e.g.~non-explanatory understanding or practical understanding, or they fail to accommodate relevant targets of understanding, e.g.~scientific theories or how to generate data about a phenomenon. Our “problems and possibilities ” (P&P) view surmounts these problems by providing a unifying analysis of different kinds of understanding. Our view is that scientific understanding is fundamentally pragmatic. Scientific practice consists in scientific activities that are pursued to solve various problems. The very same problem can be solved in a variety of ways. Taking the actions required to solve our problems is constitutive of some understanding. Comparing the various possibly ways of solving our problems to themselves or other things can afford inferences about the target of understanding, which, when made, also constitute understanding of the target. The variety of possible means for solving our problems often support incompatible inferences about a target of understanding, hence our P&P view of understanding.
This talk is online-only. Follow along via Zoom: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/95989267952
This talk will also be available live streamed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.
Details
- Date:
- February 20
- Time:
-
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST
- Event Categories:
- Featured Former Fellow LTT, Online Events
Venue
- Online Lecture