Annual Lecture Series (in-person)
Lunchtime Talks (in-person)
Conferences (in-person)
Online-Only Events
- This event has passed.
ALS: Kerry McKenzie
February 14, 2020 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am EST
Progress and its Problems: Coming to Terms with Theory Change in the Metaphysics of Science
Kerry McKenzie, University of California, San Diego
Abstract:
Progress is often cited as definitive of science. Thinking about the sense, if any, that metaphysics progresses might therefore help us get a purchase on the demarcation between science and metaphysics and on what a ‘naturalistic’ metaphysics consists of. Drawing on work by Nicholas Rescher, I argue that metaphysics cannot make progress in the sense that science does, owing to its unreceptiveness to notions of ‘approximate truth’ analogous to those attributable to science. While this raises searching questions as to the value of metaphysical theorizing prior to the emergence of a fundamental theory, here I pursue the prospects of using an in-principle failure to approximate as a criterion by which to demarcate metaphysics from science. We will see there are considerations pulling both ways.
Details
- Date:
- February 14, 2020
- Time:
-
10:30 am - 11:30 am EST
- Event Categories:
- 60th Annual Lecture Series, 2019-20, Annual Lecture Series
Venue
- 1008 Cathedral of Learning
-
4200 Fifth Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15260 United States + Google Map