Abstract
Who, if anyone, is the custodian of scientific rationality? Traditionally, defining the rationality of science (justifying the scientific theories) is the aim of philosophy of science. Sociologists of science, on the other hand, while construing science as a purely social activity, do not accept the role of philosophers as custodians of scientific rationality. Given these two mutually exclusive paradigms, the modest aim of the seminar is to introduce ``a cognitive approach'' of Ronald Giere towards ``naturalising'' the philosophy of science. According to Giere, scientists using their cognitive capacities interact with the real world to construct modern science. Cognitive science is helpful for the philosophy of science in the sense that it provides ``models of cognitive Agents who develop representations of the world and make judgments about both the world and representations of it.'' During the cognitive science course so far, we have been discussing the role of philosophy in cognitive science. Giere's position illustrates the complementary role of cognitive science in the philosophy of science.
References
Giere, R. N. (1988) Explaining Science: A Cognitive Approach. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Toulmin, S. (1972) Human Understanding. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Quine, W. V. (1995) From Stimulus to Science. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.