H2020Индивидуална стипендия2017–2019

EPISTOP · Epistemic Optimism in Enlightenment Natural Philosophy : Metaphysics and Experimental Philosophy

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2017-09-01 → 2019-08-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 172 800 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Връзката между метафизиката и ранната наука се проследява чрез приемането на идеите на Нютон в Холанд между 1690 и 1750 г. Това помага да се разбере как експериментите и философските разсъждения са си взаимодействали, вместо да се противопоставят.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Epistemic Optimism in Enlightenment Natural Philosophy : Metaphysics and Experimental Philosophy

* The historiography of eighteenth-century scientific methodology tends to portray the persistence of metaphysics as the sign of resistance to modernity and modern science, leaving the potential interaction between metaphysics and early modern science uncharted. The EPISTOP project provides a historiographical re-evaluation of metaphysical considerations within eighteenth-century natural philosophy. * The aim of this research project is to bring a twofold shift to this traditional interpretation. First, by shedding light on the significance of other experimental traditions, some older than and some contemporary with the Newtonian experimental philosophy, that explain how Newton’s natural philosophy was received and, second and most importantly, by showing that within a number of eighteenth-century scientific methodologies there were infact fertile interactions between experimentation and metaphysics. The project will focus on the Dutch Republic from 1690 to 1750, because it provides us with a clear case of how Newton’s Principia and Opticks were received within an already existing experimental context and because Dutch natural philosophy was prototypical of the experimental philosophy which was burgeoning at the time. The focus of this project is on two questions that occupied eighteenth-century scientists: 1. What sort of knowledge do experiments provide us with?, and 2. How can it be rendered certain? The project will study the development of experimental philosophy in the Dutch Republic, and pinpoint how it reconfigured epistemic concerns without totally erasing metaphysical preoccupations. In this context, the hypothesis of ‘epistemic optimism’ is introduced as a heuristic tool. 'Epistemic optimism' refers to an awareness that our epistemic capacities are limited combined with a certain epistemic confidence that we will be able to push back these limitation at some later time. The originality of my project lies in its endeavour to account for the epistemic devices employed by certain early eighteenth-century savants by using categories from general philosophy of science (robustness, uncertainty logic, statement falsifiability, etc.). * We live in a period where we unceasingly discover new entities, new stars, new medical treatments, etc., i.e. in a period where the question of pushing back the limits of our knowledge is fundamental. Our interpretation of Enlightenment can be useful or at least inspiring for understanding epistemically comparable situations.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

From a methodological point of view, the history of the classical sciences is often presented as a triumphant march of experimentation anchored in the science of Newton and the Newtonians. The historiography of 18th-c. scientific methodology tends moreover to portray each form of persistence of metaphysics as the sign of resistance to modernity or as some obsolete archaism. The aim of my research project is to bring a twofold shift to this traditional interpretation. First, by shedding light on the presence of other experimental traditions, some older than, some contemporary with the Newtonian one, that explain how Newton's natural philosophy was received and, second, by showing that within a certain number of 18th-c. scientific methodologies there was a fertile interaction between experimentation and metaphysics. The idea of the project is to propose a novel historiographical hypothesis about the epistemic values of Enlightenment science. My research hypothesis is based on an innovative methodological idea: namely that one should study epistemic practises in order to identify communities of shared epistemic values. This proposal will go beyond the classical divisions which have long dominated accounts of Enlightenment science (e.g. rationalists versus empiricists, Cartesians versus Newtonians, etc.). It will focus on the Dutch Republic from 1690 to 1750, because the aim is to scrutinize how Newton’s Principia and Opticks were received within an already existing experimental context. The focus here will be on two questions that occupied 18th-c. scientists: What knowledge do experiments provide us with? And, how can it be rendered certain? To understand how the development of experimental philosophy in the Dutch Republic managed to reconfigure epistemic concerns without totally erasing metaphysical preoccupations. My intention is to test a research hypothesis: the epistemic optimism of 18th-c. natural philosophy.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL · Bruxelles / BrusselКоординаторБелгия