Scheffler Revisited on the Role of History and Philosophy of Science in Science Teacher Education

Twenty-five years ago Israel Scheffler argued for the inclusion of philosophy of science in the preparation of science teachers. It was part of his wider argument for the inclusion of courses in the philosophy of the discipline in programmes that are preparing people to teach that discipline. For the most part Scheffler's suggestion, at least as far as science education is concerned, went unheeded. Pleasingly, in recent times there has been some rapprochement between these fields. This paper will restate parts of Scheffler's argument, it will develop some additional considerations pertaining to it, and it will set the discussion in the context of contemporary debate about science, science education and teacher training. With changed time and circumstances, Scheffler' arguments might find more adherents than when they were initially proposed. My revision of Scheffler's argument has two planks: first pedagogical, second professional.     

Deflationary Metaphysics and the Construction of Laboratory Mice

The deflationist turn in recent philosophy of science has attracted attention, in part because it promises to end debates about scientific realism. In its recommendation that we leave metaphysics behind to look at practice, deflationism constructs itself as an end-of-philosophy philosophy, accepting knowledge and the evidence for it at face value. Meanwhile, recent work in philosophy, sociology, and history of science that has focused on practice has underscored problems of such an acceptance: much scientific knowledge is not straightforwardly about the natural world, and we would not want it to be. A concrete example from the history of comparative psychology illustrates this point, and illustrates the value of interpretive work on scientific knowledge. A focus on practice, then, does not end metaphysical discussion, but rather regrounds and reshapes it.     

The philosophical legacy of Meehl (1978): confirmation theory, theory quality, and scientific epistemology

The reach and impact of Paul Meehl’s work is extraordinary. Focusing on his “Theoretical Risks and Tabular Asterisks”, I trace three consequences of his findings. The first is the influence of his work on confirmation theory in the philosophy of science, in which he provided a more sophisticated alternative to Popperianism, despite some affinities with it. The second is a clear focus on the evaluation of theory quality as an explanation for the success of hard vs. soft theories. The third is a very deep critique of the practices of contemporary epistemology; his research recommends the replacement of demonstrably unreliable, subjective judgments about justification and knowledge with simple predictive models that outperform human experts. This is an impressive array of intellectual contributions to psychology and philosophy. As influential as his work was, it is just now beginning to receive attention commensurate with its merits.     

Gone but Not Forgotten: Council Leaders, 1934–1952

The authors summarize the contributions of several leaders of the American Council of Guidance and Personnel Associations, explaining that the counseling profession owes its origin to a coalition of professional organization leaders who were committed to guidance and personnel services. In explaining these leaders' contributions, the authors provide readers with an opportunity to connect a part of the American Counseling Association's past with the present.     

Kontinentales Erbe Und Analytische Methode. Nelson Goodman Und Die Tradition

Goodman's most important contribution to philosophy seems to be his analysis of the relation between facts of science and fictions of art. His view can be seen as a kind of complementary pluralism. That is to say, science and art are two complementary forms of achieving cognition. This position overcame the positivistic view (of his teacher Carnap) according to which the value of art is restricted to the non-cognitive function of expressing emotions. In this paper I compare some of Goodman's fundamental ideas – especially his central conception of exemplification – with their counterparts in Baumgarten, Kant, and Cassirer. Based on this comparison I argue against the tendency to regard analytic and continental philosophy as two completely separated traditions.     

Normativity in the Philosophy of Science

This paper analyzes what it means for philosophy of science to be normative. It argues that normativity is a multifaceted phenomenon rather than a general feature that a philosophical theory either has or lacks. It analyzes the normativity of philosophy of science by articulating three ways in which a philosophical theory can be normative. Methodological normativity arises from normative assumptions that philosophers make when they select, interpret, evaluate, and mutually adjust relevant empirical information, on which they base their philosophical theories. Object normativity emerges from the fact that the object of philosophical theorizing can itself be normative, such as when philosophers discuss epistemic norms in science. Metanormativity arises from the kind of claims that a philosophical theory contains, such as normative claims about science as it should be. Distinguishing these three kinds of normativity gives rise to a nuanced and illuminating view of how philosophy of science can be normative.     

Baudelaire’s Aesthetic

This paper will take up the work of Charles Baudelaire, poetic and critical, in order to present the Baudelairean aesthetic and to make a case for its relevance in our judgments about art today. Baudelaire was the first poet of the modern built environment and is known as the father of modern poetry. While his poetry is still admired, his aesthetic has been historicised: deemed to belong to that time and place in which Baudelaire wrote. This paper will argue that this historicisation by subsequent aesthetic theory and philosophy is a suppression of something integral to art and artists, without which art is liable to lose what is true about it and sink into a morass of irrelevance and triviality, or (as will be argued has partly happened) may become devoid of any value beyond the business interests that control it. In this regard, it will be suggested, Baudelaire’s aesthetic has important redeeming qualities.     

MICHAEL POLANYI ON ART AND RELIGION: SOME CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON MEANING

This paper is a critique of the theory of meaning in art and religion that Michael Polanyi developed in his last work entitled Meaning. After giving a brief summary of Polanyi's theory of art, I raise two serious difficulties, not with the theory itself, but with the claims Polanyi makes about the relation of meaning in art to science and religion. Regarding the first difficulty, I argue that Polanyi betrays an earlier insight when in Meaning he attempts to dissociate meaning in art from meaning in science; instead I argue that both science and art are aesthetic enterprises. Regarding the second, I argue that Polanyi's account of religion is an aesthetic reduction, that meaning in religion, at least in the Western tradition, is not so much an aesthetic as it is an existential matter.     

Disability Advocacy and Reproductive Choice: Engaging with the Expressivist Objection

This professional issues paper outlines the experience and value of engagement with disability advocates, philosophy scholars and bioethicists for spirited debate of issues such as modern eugenics, the expressivist objection and reproductive choice. This process for one group of individuals, undoubtedly prompted deeper examination and questioning of some long held personal and professional views, for all participants. For this author, engagement in the “Disability Rights–Genetic Counseling Interest Group” over a full year resulted in several positive changes in genetic counselling practice as well as the development of meaningful, robust philosophical defence of the dual roles in genetic counseling; advocacy for those with disabilities, and facilitation of a full range of reproductive choices.     

Leading with ethics,aiming for policy: new opportunities for philosophy of science

The goal of this paper is to articulate and advocate for an enhanced role for philosophers of science in the domain of science policy as well as within the science curriculum. I argue that philosophy of science as a field can learn from the successes as well as the mistakes of bioethics and begin to develop a new model that includes robust contributions to the science classroom, research collaborations with scientists, and a role for public philosophy through involvement in science policy development. Through an analysis of two case studies, I illustrate how philosophers of science can make effective and productive contributions to science education as well as to interdisciplinary scientific research, and argue for the essential role of philosophers of science in the realm of science policy.     

THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE SUBLIME IN NATURAL SCIENCE

The various aesthetic phenomena found repeatedly in the scientific enterprise stem from the role of God as artist. If the Creator is an artist, how and why natural scientists study the divine art work can be understood using theological aesthetics and the philosophy of art. The aesthetic phenomena considered here are as follows. First, science reveals beauty and the sublime in natural phenomena. Second, science discovers beauty and the sublime in the theories that are developed to explain natural phenomena. Third, the search for beauty often guides scientists in their work. Fourth, where beauty is perceived, feelings of the sublime often also follow upon further contemplation. This linkage of beauty in science with truth and the sublime runs counter to most aesthetic theory since Kant. Scholarship in theological aesthetics has recently argued that the modern and postmodern elevation of the sublime over beauty is merely a preference that reveals a bias against transcendence—against God. If doing and understanding science can show this sundering of the sublime from the beautiful to be in error, science also gives evidence of transcendence.     

Aesthetic appreciation of experiments: The case of 18th-century mimetic experiments

This article analyzes a type of experiment, very popular in 18th-century natural philosophy, which has apparently not led to insights into nature but which was aesthetically especially attractive. These experiments--"mimetic experiments"--allow us to trace a connection between aesthetic appreciation in science and in art contemporaneous with the science. I use this case as a problem for McAllister's theory of aesthetic induction according to which aesthetic standards in science tend to be associated with empirical success and propose an alternative mechanism that is able to account for the natural philosophers' predilection for unsuccessful but beautiful experiments.     

Science,spirituality and truth: acknowledging difference for spiritual dialogue and human well‐being

This article seeks to explain why spiritual education must be clear about the nature of spiritual knowledge and truth and how it differs from the knowledge and truth generated by science. The author argues this is important in order that spirituality and science are equally valued, and in order that spiritual pedagogy appropriately reflects the nature of spiritual truth in the context of spiritual diversity and commitment. Based on these arguments, and inspired both by the ideas of inter‐faith dialogue and the philosophy of Michael Bakhtin, the author then suggests a dialogical approach to spiritual pedagogy for spiritual development and wellbeing. The article suggests education will best enhance human wellbeing if it is positive about the contributions of both science and spirituality, and if it promotes understanding of spiritual difference and commitment.     

Criminal personality profiling in the investigation of violent crime: Recent advances and future directions

Criminal personality profiling is the process of analyzing various aspects of violent crime to derive a set of hypotheses about the characteristics of an unknown assailant. The ultimate goal of profiling is to assist in the successful apprehension and conviction of the perpetrator. Recent advances in the development of profiling as a forensic science are reviewed. While it is generally held that profiling is more art than science, there is evidence suggesting that greater scientific rigor can be attained. New methods of standardizing violent crime classification, the qualification of professional profilers as expert witnesses, and standard computerized data bases all point to the potential for a science of profiling. Future directions that may assist in expanding the empirical foundations of profiling are also discussed.     

Interdisciplinary research: A philosophy, art form, artifact or antidote?

Interdisciplinary research has many faces—a philosophy, an art form, an artifact, and an antidote. It is all of these things because interdisciplinary research attempts to ask questions in ways that cut across disciplinary boundaries. This is not politically correct and universities especially find it difficult to manage interdisciplinarians and their projects. The author argues that interdisciplinary research has persisted as an alternative when traditional research approaches have failed to come up with answers to common problems. Interdisciplinary research will continue to survive as long as there are creative, risk-taking scientists who are dissatisfied with the political and organizational boundaries we establish around disciplines which limit our ability to learn about their commonalities. Scientific research is not itself a science; it is still an art or craft. W. H. George (1938)     

从皮亚杰到柯尔伯格——兼论道德认知理论的哲学问题

从皮亚杰到柯尔伯格的道德认知理论是富有创新性的心理学理论 ,它以实证的方法研究了道德认知的发生和发展 ,对道德教育实践产生了巨大的影响。道德认知理论与现代唯物主义的精神实质相一致 ,并体现了丰富的辩证思维。但其理论在哲学世界观和方法论方面 ,存在一些自身不能解决的问题 ,对这些问题进行分析 ,有助于道德科学研究和伦理哲学研究的发展。     

A Philosophy of Physical Education Oriented toward the Game as an Object. Showing the Inexhaustible Reality of Games through Bernard Suits’ Theory

ABSTRACT

Although a large number of theories justify the presence of games in school, all of them converge in two of the educational functions described by Biesta, socialization and qualification. In contrast to this instrumental educational approach, the present article aims to develop the bases for a philosophy of physical education (PE) oriented toward the game as an object. This proposal is supported by Suits’ theory of games and the object-oriented philosophy (OOP) introduced by Harman. The text presents a justification for games in the school setting by defending its intrinsic value. First, the instrumentalist justifications for games are presented in order to establish the state of the art. Second, an explanation is provided about the degree to which the object-oriented philosophy can complement these justifications. Third, the article explains why Suits’ theory of games establishes the conceptual bases for developing what we could call a philosophy of PE oriented toward the game as an object. Finally, an example is provided of how this philosophy can guide the PE practice.     

VALUES IN SCIENCE

Abstract In this essay, which was his presidential address to the Philosophy of Science Association, Ernan McMullin argued that the watershed between “classic” philosophy of science (by this meaning, not just logical positivism but the logicist tradition in theory of science stretching back through Kant and Descartes to Aristotle) and the “new” philosophy of science can best be understood by analyzing the change in our perception of the role played by values in science. He begins with some general remarks about the nature of value, goes on to explore some of the historical sources for the claim that judgement in science is value‐laden, and concludes by reflecting on the implications of this claim for traditional views of the objectivity of scientific knowledge‐claims.     

Teaching history and systems from a clinical perspective

There is a need to make the teaching of the history and systems of psychology course more relevant for students in professional training programs. Most typical courses and textbooks are oriented around the history of the science of psychology, giving scant and generally passing attention to the development of the profession of psychology. The author draws on his experience teaching a history and systems course in PsyD programs and provides a structure for enhancing the relevancy of such courses in professional training programs. Two frameworks are used. The author develops a conceptualization of 4 archetypes as defining of the range of roles, activities, contexts, and justification of professional psychologists: (a) the shaman/priest, (b) the physician, (c) the teacher, and (d) the scientist. Stephen Pepper's (1942) world hypothesis theory, which characterizes the epistemic approaches underlying modern science and philosophy, is used to organize the development of the science of psychology. The integration of these 2 frameworks is discussed, and the circular modifications that flow from it are outlined.     

哲学对医学导向作用的切入点

哲学是世界观、方法论、价值观的科学体系。医学是维护和促进人类健康的科学体系和实践活动。二者都具有很强的科学精神和人文精神。医学和哲学的关系是特殊与普通的关系。医学为哲学理论的建构奠定了科学基础,而哲学为医学的发展提供导向作用。为了使２１世纪的医学再创辉煌,以马克思主义哲学的提供的客观性原则、方法论原则、社会价值性原则作为切入点,发挥其导向作用是完全必要的。