A New Task for the Philosophy of Science

Authors: Nicholas Maxwell

Metaphilosophy Vol. 50, No. 3, April 2019, pp. 316-338
arXiv: 1912.04396v1 - DOI (physics.hist-ph)

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In his paper "A New Task for the Philosophy of Science," philosopher Nicholas Maxwell argues that philosophers of science have a crucial task ahead of them: to persuade the scientific community to embrace and implement a new philosophy of science that better reflects the changing intellectual aims of science. This new philosophy would enable us to create a more rigorous and socially responsible form of science that serves humanity's best interests. Maxwell's argument emphasizes the importance for scientists to consider not only what they can do but also what they should do, ultimately calling for a reexamination of our current approach to scientific inquiry.
AI-generated keywords: Philosophy of Science Nicholas Maxwell Scientific Community Intellectual Aims Socially Responsible

AI-generated Key Points

  • Philosophers of science have a crucial task to persuade the scientific community to embrace and implement a new philosophy of science.
  • The new philosophy would enable us to create a more rigorous and socially responsible form of science that serves humanity's best interests.
  • Scientists should consider not only what they can do but also what they should do.
  • A reexamination of our current approach to scientific inquiry is necessary.
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Abstract: This paper argues that philosophers of science have before them an important new task that they urgently need to take up. It is to convince the scientific community to adopt and implement a new philosophy of science that does better justice to the deeply problematic basic intellectual aims of science than that which we have at present. Problematic aims evolve with evolving knowledge, that part of philosophy of science concerned with aims and methods thus becoming an integral part of science itself. The outcome of putting this new philosophy into scientific practice would be a new kind of science, both more intellectually rigorous and one that does better justice to the best interests of humanity.

Submitted to arXiv on 09 Dec. 2019

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