The continuity of inquiry and normative philosophy of science

Abstract

The history of philosophy is intertwined with that of the natural sciences, and philosophical reflection on elements of scientific inquiry has gained a prominent place in the philosophical landscape. The enormous progress in science has brought along distinctive challenges that make it a particularly appropriate site for philosophical inquiry, and most key scientific fields are today accompanied by subdisciplines of philosophy that examine the nature, aims, and methodology of the subject matter of that field. While philosophy of science has long been dominated by debates that can be traced back to the first half of the twentieth century, the improved comprehension of the historical and social embeddedness of scientific practice has led

Practice-guided public health philosophy

“…But this need not worry those philosophers who are committed to the idea of a genuine encounter of philosophy and various empirical research endeavours, because practice-guided public health philosophy need not be conducted by philosophers. Philosophical inquiry deploys tools that it shares with empirical scientists, such as rigorous argumentation, logical reasoning and the replacement of folk concepts with concepts that better suit their theoretical purpose, although philosophers tend to operate them with a special expertise and meticulousness (Laplane et al, 2019, Varga, 2021. Based on our experience from public health research, philosophers appear especially well-equipped to assist public health research in a way that empirical researchers often cannot afford in their daily activities.…”