Texts, articles and reviews with label: 'science and truth'.
The resurgence of Rhetoric and its chiaroscuros
summaryThe rhetoric of the twelfth century, present in political action and in the media, engages with the postulates of the postmodern Philosophy and deconstructivism. The problem is analyzed from a Philosophy that can be called academic, and in reference letter to the truth.
Author: Ginés framework Perles
Reasonable certainty in science and philosophy
summaryMathematics and experimental science are based on postulates that cannot be justified by themselves. Their acceptance implies the adoption of philosophical postulates. Some of these postulates, which lead to the possibility of a reasonable certainty in science, are shown.
Author: Fernando Sols
Can philosophy be a natural science? On the project naturalisation of reason
summaryNaturalised epistemology is currently widespread: the project of substituting philosophy for the natural sciences. It claims that we humans have a single reason that works well in the natural sciences. The rest of the sciences must be a continuum with them. Is it possible to fulfil this goal?
Author: Enrique Moros
Proposals on the language of Science and its relationship with Nature
summaryThe scientific method discovers aspects of reality that are not evident and that fill us with wonder. These hidden underlying laws seem to refer to a Logos common to all reality. Its finding is a spiritual experience comparable to certain religious experiences.
Author: Gustavo Aucar.
Is statistical demonstration scientific?
summaryThe scientific research , among many other things, is deductive and inductive. Deduction is used in all disciplines. Its demonstrations, irrefutable, usually end with a q.e.d. On the other hand, in the so-called experimental sciences, induction is more and more essential. Modern statistics has come to give mathematical consistency to induction by means of the laws of chance. This seminar is intended to show how it does so, using the natural processes of the human mind to draw conclusions from simple data . It will address the topic of possible manipulation at all stages of the research, from planning the collection of data to making decisions from the interpretation of the results. Some of today's hot topics such as causal inference, Bayesian procedures, ethical-statistical issues, the treatment of massive data , the statistical detection of fraudulent data or the difficulty of making predictions when human freedom comes into play will be addressed with simple examples.
Author: Jesús López Fidalgo
Techno-optimism: near future or false promise?
summaryTechnological utopiaargues that, thanks to technology, humanity will eventually reach an ideal life in which the problems that limit it today will disappear. These ideal conditions include a state of abundance in which - according to these thinkers - social problems would also disappear. It would also be possible to design conscious machines and communicate efficiently with them. Moreover, life technologies could overcome disease and delay ageing: in its most extreme version, techno-optimism promises to overcome death itself. This discussion paper reviews the main promises of techno-optimism and their implications, pointing out the limitations of its assumptions and the need for reflection to guide and control future technological developments.
Author: Sara Lumbreras
Author: Penelope Maddy
Science from the perspective of faith. Scientific knowledge does not question the existence of God.
Author: Alister McGrath
summaryThe three essays collected here correspond to the interventions of their authors at a workshop, organised by the Institute of Anthropology and Ethics and the research group "Science, Reason and Faith" (CRYF), at the University of Navarra on 19 February 2013*. This activity was part of the Year of Faith, announced by the Catholic Church in October 2012 and which will be closed in November 2013.
Author: Luis Romera, Leonardo Rodríguez Duplá and Ignacio López Goñi
summaryCommentary on the "Sokal joke" that makes explicit how questions of physics and other sciences are not a mere convention between physicists with no more support than sociological support.
Author: Carlos Pérez García
summaryA description of the scientific method and the subject of truth it arrives at, which is compatible with a gnoseological realism and with the acceptance of an authentic scientific truth.
Author: Mariano Artigas
Science and Philosophy: A Love-Hate Relationship
summaryIn this paper I review the problematic relationship between science and philosophy; in particular, I will address the question of whether science needs philosophy, and I will offer some positive (if incomplete) perspectives that should be helpful in developing a synergetic relationship between the two. I will review three lines of reasoning often employed in arguing that philosophy is useless for science: a) philosophy's death diagnosis ('philosophy is dead') and what follows from it; b) the historic-agnostic argument/challenge "show me examples where philosophy has been useful for science, for I don't know of any"; c) the division of property argument (or: philosophy and science have different subject matters, therefore philosophy is useless for science). These arguments will be countered with three contentions to the effect that the natural sciences need philosophy. I will: a) point to the fallacy of anti-philosophicalism (or: 'in order to deny the need for philosophy, one must do philosophy') and examine the role of paradigms and presuppositions (or: why science can't live without philosophy); b) point out why the historical argument fails (in an example from quantum mechanics, alive and kicking); c) briefly sketch some domains of intersection of science and philosophy and how the two can have mutual synergy. I will conclude with some implications of this synergetic relationship between science and philosophy for the liberal arts and sciences.
Author: Sebastian de Haro
Is statistical demonstration scientific?
summaryThe scientific research , among many other things, is deductive and inductive. Deduction is used in all disciplines. Its demonstrations, irrefutable, usually end with a q.e.d. On the other hand, in the so-called experimental sciences, induction is more and more essential. Modern statistics has come to give mathematical consistency to induction by means of the laws of chance. This seminar is intended to show how it does so, using the natural processes of the human mind to draw conclusions from simple data . It will address the topic of possible manipulation at all stages of the research, from planning the collection of data to making decisions from the interpretation of the results. Some of today's hot topics such as causal inference, Bayesian procedures, ethical-statistical issues, the treatment of massive data , the statistical detection of fraudulent data or the difficulty of making predictions when human freedom comes into play will be addressed with simple examples.
Author: Jesús López Fidalgo