CEFISES Seminar: Caterina Schürch, « The art of cherry-picking: Why integrating historical and philosophical analyses helps us to understand science »

Livestream https://www.youtube.com/@CEFISES

Series: HPS

Speaker: Caterina Schürch (TU Berlin)

Title: « The art of cherry-picking: Why integrating historical and philosophical analyses helps us to understand science »

Abstract

The debate on integrated HPS is dominated by discussions about the methodological pitfalls that arise when attempting to combine historiographical and philosophical analyses. A common concern is that historical episodes are „cherry-picked“ to support specific philosophical concepts – and, as a result, such historical case studies cannot be used as empirical evidence to support the latter. In this talk, I will argue that cherry-picking does not necessarily result in misleading claims about science. Selecting insightful historical episodes and philosophical frameworks is also not trivial. Indeed, HPS scholars must justify their interest in certain events and concepts to two communities simultaneously. Fortunately, History and Philosophy can complement each other, providing the necessary rationale for each of the choices. Using examples from my analysis of interdisciplinary research during the interwar period, I will demonstrate how philosophical concepts can inform the selection of specific historical events. Conversely, historical analyses allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of philosophical frameworks in explaining past research practices.

—

Organised with the support of the F.R.S.-FNRS under the project ‘Mapping and Responding to Taxonomic Disorder for the Biodiversity Crisis’ (P.I.: Charles H. Pence). For more information, see: https://pencelab.be/en/projects/2021-pdr/.