Humanism and the Aim of Science: Past, Present, Future

This talk is jointly organized with the Department of Philosophy, Applied Philosophy of Science and Epistomology.

Date: 06/07/2023

Time: 15h00

Abstract:

Humanism, conceived as a worldview, and science, conceived as a form (or family of forms) of inquiry into the world, have been entangled with one another across a long sweep of intellectual history. I consider their co-evolution as a prelude to the present, briefly reviewing formative aspects of Renaissance humanism and deepening associations of values central to the Enlightenment with precursors to modern science, en route to an arguably peculiar situation today. Where past conceptions of the aim of science (natural philosophy, etc.) seem intimately connected to the idea of fashioning a better world, contemporary philosophy seems largely devoid of normative discussions of what science itself is for, exactly. I conclude with some reflections on a possible return to a humanist conception of the role and promise of science.