Simon Blackburn - Why Philosophy of Science?

Science is humankind's magnificent achievement, the way of thinking to discern facts and truths and to reject errors and myths. But how to understand the scientific method itself and what is it really that science is learning? That's the role of philosophy. For example, when science discerns 'regularities' in nature, are these 'laws' of nature?



Simon Blackburn is a British academic philosopher known for his work in quasi-realism and his efforts to popularize philosophy. He obtained his doctorate in 1970 from Churchill College, Cambridge.


Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[joeycarter]

Blackburn seems to really know his stuff. Very impressive interviewee.

[samirmatar]

Great interview. I like the idea of specific philosophies of Sciences. I guess most difficulties arise in biology and the living, and less for inert matter as physics. Lots to be be achieved ✔️

[Egyptian_citizen]

I believe that philosophy of science, in one way or another, is the tool that helps the scientist in evaluating what he has reached and what will reach in terms of results, and reconsidering all that science previously reached in the absence of philosophy!

[HeavenlyWarrior]

Science without philosophy is like trying to understand the world in a dark room.

[mehdibaghbadran]

If we think that the areas of science are related together, then the explanation will apply to mention the relationship between the scientific subjects, and here’s philosophy comes to the existence to help us to understand and explain them!

[SimpleBach]

Omg, the sounds around 8:20 scared the shite out of me. I listen to this to help me to sleep…

[Robinson]

I think we can find out what the intricate mechanism and bootstrapping relations is a priori

[martinbennett]

Simon Blackburn must be quite elderly these days, I remember him as my moral tutor at college in the 70s. Even then he was known for his admiration of Hume. My interest is the perspective that all our understanding, including philosophy, is a function of science in that understanding is a function of cerebral activity and that any limits to understanding are perceptual/neurological limits.

Of course this is a realist perspective; if realism is denied, science is denied too making possible free will, consciousness, solipsism and supernatural entities. Science then becomes just an odds defying miracle! Naturally, few find this kind of line plausible.

As a teacher myself, my central point in philosophy is to insist on a strong division between the subjective and the objective and that a lot of the difficulties in philosophy stem from blurring the distinction.

[markberman]

Time, in our universe flows and only in one direction. Laws, as some say, are mostly suggestions, some, however, cannot be broken. This guest is just outstanding, absolutely outstanding.

[arthurwieczorek]

The philosopher says, Know thy premises.

[genius]

How about the s turn that's fast approaching???

[SRAVALM]

Science has always been a measuring tape in the waist belt of the philosopher/metaphysician, only since the 19th century did science become it's own seperate discipline, and I will argue that it was the materialists whom hijacked the means of science making it their own crutch as a way to refute their oppositions and possibly to control.
Nikola Tesla greatly criticized the 19th century or modern science and for a reason.
This is a fact.

[shelwincornelia]

The philosophy of science should be applied to help us understand the nature of consciousness through which we become aware of our ever changing experiences. 

It should not be difficult for us to understand that in order to be able to accurately be aware of these ever changing experiences, our awareness itself can not be changing.

This would mean that our awareness can also not be a product of the body/brain which itself is ever changing.

[showponyexpressify]

The fairly obvious human anthropomorphic abstraction, "law of nature" should be replaced with the phrase "regularity of nature". Fully agree.

[arthurwieczorek]

1:47 Is 'what it was', 'what it did'? 'What it did', was highly specific. 'What it was', was how you characterized what it did. So, you have the name, gravity, you have this or that characterizing statement, and you have what it does, say, in a mathematical formula. Three levels of reference.

[mintakan]

Philosophy can help in clarifying our concepts. But it seems that science does the "heavy lifting", in actually making progress on many issues. This is because of its empirical bent. And oftentimes, the actual reality is much stranger than we would've imagined. Take the example of quantum physics.

Then there's the issue of "time", arguments about "Eternalism", or the "river of time". In General Relativity "time" is an intimately related to "space", and even the masses in the spacetime framework. Strange as this may seem, it has been demonstrated experimentally. (There are also definitional issues, such as the physicalist meaning of time, vs. the human subjective experience of time.)

[markberman]

Cosmos has a start and a stop, as does time within our universe/sphere. The human need to wrestle answers is both a blessing and a curse... we are meant to get as near to the answers as possible while accepting that because of who and what we are we are, as a species, forever limited in knowing what is beyond and before. We have not earned the right to such knowledge, not even come close to earning it. What a brilliant conversation to listen to, just outstanding. PS- the root of so many demands to believe everything here can be mathed out is fear. Regardless of what any genius mind claims, beneath the need to master everything is fear.

[Dan]

Why is it that I find the videography is distracting to the content of the video?
Because the camera is moving all over the place and it gives me vertigo😜😅

[xenphoton]

All things that are encountered or experienced being of material structure should be considered more as events as opposed to objects. 😁

[DinoDiniProductions]

It helps to realise that real comes from the Latin 'reor' which means 'I reckon, calculate. I think, consider, deem, judge, believe, suppose, imagine'. We invent our own reality.