Project description
A novel view in the philosophy of science called "perspectival realism"
Funded by the European Research Council, the Perspectival Realism project articulates a view of the same name in the philosophy of science through an interdisciplinary approach that merges philosophy of science, scientific practice, history of science, and history of philosophy. Scientific perspectivism has gained attention for explaining the perspectival nature of modelling pervasive in the physical, life, and social sciences. Can scientific knowledge be both perspectival and true? Can perspectivism align with realism? The outcome of the project will be an historically and scientifically informed philosophical position with the potential to reshape debates on pluralism, unification, and realism.
Objective
This project develops a novel view in philosophy of science called perspectival realism, via a three-pronged highly interdisciplinary approach, which combines the philosophy of science, with scientific practice, the history of science and the history of philosophy. Scientific perspectivism has recently attracted a great deal of attention for its ability to account for the perspectival nature of modelling, pervasive in the physical sciences, the life sciences, and the social sciences. Can scientific knowledge be perspectival, and at the same time, true? Can perspectivism be made compatible with realism?
Four goals guide and structure the project:
(1) To offer a systematic investigation of how contemporary physicists deal with the perspectival nature of modelling, either by exploring innovative non-perspectival methods (in particle physics), or by devising ways of integrating different data sets and optmising their use for heuristic purposes (in observational cosmology).
(2) To examine, via salient historical case studies, to what extent scientific controversies and disagreement among scientists can be traced back to perspectival modelling, including measurement and experimental techniques.
(3) To re-assess the historical origins of perspectivism as a distinctive mode of scientific inquiry back to the Enlightenment, and in particular to Kant's 'Copernican Revolution'.
(4) To critically elaborate a metaphysics for perspectival realism that can ultimately answer the overarching question: 'Can perspectivism be made compatible with realism'?
The outcome is a scientifically and historically informed philosophical position, with the groundbreaking potential of advancing traditional debates about pluralism, unification, and realism in scientific research.
The project pursues these goals via an innovative methodology, in five sub-projects, bringing together physicists, historians of science and of philosophy, and philosophers of science, in an unprecedented way.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy astrophysics dark matter
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy metaphysics
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy physical cosmology
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics higgs bosons
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2014-CoG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
EH8 9YL Edinburgh
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.