The aim and structure of applied research

IAR Consortium, 2023

Regarding the topic "philosophy of science and technology" there are of course various debates and contributions for more than half a century regarding the different approaches in the philosophy of science. Beside some urgently pressing problems of responsibility, technocracy and of the now so-called New Technologies pose an important methodological question, namely whether or notand if, how-variants of philosophy of science or of "Verstehen" (understanding in the hermeneutical sense) would apply to science technology and engineering disciplines and to what Don Ihde as the initiating author labeled "Technoscience". Indeed, in the last decades there have been quite a few new accents in the philosophy of technology and philosophy of science amounting, e. g., to the socalled schools of the "New Experimentalism", "New Instrumentalism" and just recently "New Mechanism". Especially Ihde, Hacking, Giere, and a number of sociologists and historians of "technoscience" emphasized the impact of instruments, experiments, dynamics and "mechanisms". They all would study respective technologies and conducive potentialities opened up by the progress and development of ever-improving measuring instruments & procedures, experimentation etc. In addition to these extant and very important practiceoriented approaches it would to my mind also be necessary to accentuate and analyze the process-and action-orientation including practical and methodological problems of "scheme-interpretation" as well as complex dynamic systems models from an epistemological perspective. It really seems that more and more scheme dynamics and interpretation patterns pave the ways in understanding science and technology. For example, do the engineering sciences exist as autonomous disciplines? Can they be separated from the natural sciences? Apparently not really. And how have they to be embedded systemstheoretical perspectives in social science and/or even in an action-theory of technology and technological activity. The necessity of multidisciplinary mutual influences was already time and again stressed regarding the theoretical and applied philosophy of science.

Prolegomena, 2006

EPSA Epistemology and Methodology of Science, 2009

Funding policies for science are usually directed at supporting technological innovations. The impact and success of such policies depend crucially on how science and technology are connected to each other. I propose an "interactive view" of the relationship between basic science and technology development which comprises the following four claims: First, technological change derives from science but only in part. The local models used in accounting for technologically relevant phenomena contain theoretical and non-theoretical elements alike. Second, existing technologies and rules of experience constitute another major repository of technological inventions. Third, technology dynamics is only weakly coupled to progress in basic science but it is closely related to science. There is a dependence of technological change on a more fundamental understanding, to be sure, but it is of an indirect and long-term character. Fourth, progress in basic research is sometimes the effect (rather than the cause) of technological change. Technological change sometimes brings about increased theoretical understanding (application innovation).

New Challenges to Philosophy of Science, 2013

This chapter looks for issues in scientific disciplines that have received little attention so far in the mainstream philosophy of science (e.g., design sciences, communication sciences, etc.). It addresses new topics in well-stablished disciplines, seeking novelty form different angles of the philosophical research.

book New Challenges to Philosophy of Science, 2013

This paper offers the philosophico-methodological framework for two aspects: 1) scientific disciplines that has received little attention so far in the mainstream philosophy of science, and 2) new topics in well-stablished disciplines, seeking novelty from different angles of the philosophical research.

Social studies of science, 2002

Science studies has shown us why science and technology cannot always solve technical problems in the public domain. In particular, the speed of political decision-making is faster than the speed of scientific consensus formation. A predominant motif over recent ...

2022

I establish the genuine content of the initial methodological program of sciences introduced in the 17th century. This content is at present distorted by the Humean tradition. And I demonstrate how the initial program of modern science, once restored, overcomes thirteen major methodological problems that hinder research and publications in philosophy of science. See the General Introduction. My concern, in the present monography, is to set out these results in a clear and abbreviated form to facilitate its access to researchers as well as to teachers and students in philosophy. Yet it's the outcome of thirty years of research and debate. _______________________________________________________________________ J'établis le contenu authentique du programme méthodologique initial des sciences introduit au 17ème siècle. Ce contenu est actuellement déformé par la tradition humienne. Et je démontre comment le programme initial de la science moderne, une fois restauré, surmonte treize problèmes méthodologiques majeurs qui entravent la recherche et les publications en philosophie des sciences. Voir l'introduction générale. Mon souci, dans la présente monographie, est d'exposer ces résultats sous une forme claire et abrégée pour en faciliter l'accès aux chercheurs ainsi qu'aux enseignants et étudiants en philosophie. C'est cependant l'aboutissement de trente années de recherches et de débats. Une fois rétabli, le contenu authentique du programme de recherche scientifique initial, rappelons-nous qu'il était destiné, non pas à créer une nouvelle science à côté de la philosophie, mais à réformer la philosophie. Et nous pouvons entreprendre à nouveau - si nous le souhaitons - cette réforme de la philosophie, offrant à la recherche philosophique un avenir fructueux . Ce faisant, la recherche philosophique devient tout à la fois philosophique et scientifique. Des formes originales de coopération entre chercheurs scientifiques et philosophes pourraient être mises en place à cette fin, variant selon les disciplines et les tâches auxquelles ils sont confrontés .

Sociological Inquiry, 1986

Contemporary views on the nature of science and technology describe them as symmetrically interdependent subcultures, in contrast to the older view of technology as applied science. O n closer inspection, however, these accounts provide two distinct descriptions. The first, that of "distinct subcultures," sees science and technology as distinguishable based on their products, sectoral locations, or objectives. The second, that of a "holistic research system," denies that any single dimension delivers the ideal typical constructs that have long been used to characterize science and technology. On balance, social studies of the research process would do well to dispense with the terms, except insofar as their use constitutes an explanatory project.

Metascience, 2019