PHILOSOPHY FOR RESEARCHERS

SCIENCE AS PROCESS AND PERSPECTIVE
Become a better researcher through philosophy

“Chance favours the prepared mind.”
Louis Pasteur, Lecture, University of Lille (7 December 1854)

What is the philosophy of science? What is the theory of knowledge? How does it relate to research practice? What is it good for? Why should I care? Will my research profit from knowing about it, or is it (as Richard Feynman quipped) as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds?

This intensive crash course introduces researchers to the philosophy of science. It has an interactive, practice-oriented, and participant-driven format.

Each of its modules consists of one to three short online lectures, which provide the basis for extensive moderated discussions in the plenary and small break-out groups (for group sizes up to 25 participants).

The aim of this course is not to make you an expert philosopher of science. It is also not a workshop on ethics (although we inevitably touch on ethical questions). Instead, this course aims to seduce you to reflect on your own research questions, on concepts you usually take for granted, on the methods you use to achieve your research goals, and on the trustworthiness, scope, and relevance of the insights you generate.

Such reflection will empower you to peek beyond your own horizon, and beyond that of your research community. It will enable you to detect biases and gaps in the knowledge of your field. It will allow you to better judge which research questions and approaches are likely to be fruitful, and which ones are not. It will give you a fresh perspective, and some useful philosophical tools that may come in handy on your research expedition into the unknown. In brief, reflecting on what you are doing will make you a better researcher.

This course has an interactive, practice-oriented, and participant-driven format. It is designed for students and researchers in the formal, natural, and social sciences (at any stage of their career) who are interested in modern philosophy of science.

The six half-day modules:
Module 1: Introduction: knowledge explanation, and understanding.
Module 2: Naïve realism: the “standard view” of science and knowledge.
Module 3: Scientific perspectivism: beyond objectivism and constructivism.
Module 4: Science as process: scientific progress and epistemic appraisal.
Module 5: Science as deliberation: the social dimension of doing research.
Module 6: Your science: discussion of students’ questions. 

This workshop requires no specific philosophical background knowledge. What it does require is an open and curious attitude, and the willingness to question your own assumptions and premises. Participants are expected to actively engage in the discussions.

I offer this course as a package in an institutional setting. In the future, it will also be offered (probably online first) on a payment-per-participant.

"Science as Process and Perspective" is an integral part of the graduate education programs of IST Austria and CRI/LPI Paris.

To get a quote and to book, contact me here.

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