Posthumous paper of Rein Vihalemm prepared to be presented at the 15th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, 3–8 August, Helsinki, Finland.
In this paper, it is suggested that philosophy of chemistry can be seen as having quite a central role in the post-Kuhnian philosophy of science in general, and in analysing the scientificc realism ...vs anti-realism debate in standard philosophy of science, in particular. The post-Kuhnian philosophy of science construes science as a practice rather than a network of statements. It is argued that practical realism can avoid the shortcomings of both standard scientific realism and anti-realism. An important recent book, B. Bensaude-Vincent’s & J. Simon’s Chemistry — The Impure Science Bensaude-Vincent & Simon 2008 is analysed, and the position of the authors is interpreted as a kind of practical realism.
Immanuel Kant can be regarded as a philosopher related to the Baltic region. This paper, however, is not a historical study of the Baltic reception of Kant’s philosophy, but of Kant’s concept of ...proper science (eigentliche Wissenschaft), which is analyzed by comparing it to a theoretical model of science—φ-science—developed within the context of practical realism. The issues of realism and practice in philosophy of science—as well as their relations to Kant’s philosophical legacy—have been centrally important in the Baltic-Nordic region. According to Kant, only quantified sciences, exemplified by physics, are proper sciences, because mathematics provides a priori principles for cognizing physical laws, thus affording apodictically certain knowledge. This conception is rooted in transcendental idealism. In this paper it is shown how Kant’s transcendental idealism and apriorism as the basis for properly scientific—apodictically certain—knowledge can be overcome (or rather, “sublated”) within the practical realist position.
On Stages of Cognition Vihalemm, Rein
Acta Baltica historiae et philosophiae scientiarum,
05/2022, Letnik:
10, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Odprti dostop
In all epistemological studies one has to employ, in one way or another, the concepts of “sensuous and rational knowledge,” “empirical and theoretical knowledge,” “essence and phenomenon.” But, ...unfortunately, the logical relationships of these concepts are not understood unambiguously, which prevents many epistemological issues from being examined with sufficient theoretical clarity. '
In all epistemological studies one has to employ, in one way or another, the concepts of “sensuous and rational knowledge,” “empirical and theoretical knowledge,” “essence and phenomenon.” But, ...unfortunately, the logical relationships of these concepts are not understood unambiguously, which prevents many epistemological issues from being examined with sufficient theoretical clarity. The author of many articles and dissertations on the categories of essence and phenomenon, V. S. Nikitchenko, considers the process of transition from phenomenon to essence in cognition as a transition from sensuous knowledge to rational knowledge.
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