题目：
Pragmatist Philosophy for Historians of Science
主讲人：
张夏硕Hasok Chang
剑桥大学科学史和科学哲学系汉斯·劳辛讲席教授
主持人：
马大年Daniele Macuglia
北京大学科技医史系助理教授
时间地点：
2024年4月11日 15:10-17:00
北京大学静园一院201
腾讯会议：299-588-985 密码33065
Zoom：851 6247 8383 Passcode: 895635
摘要：
History of science and philosophy of science have become more distant from each other in recent decades. One key reason for this disengagement is the fact that the majority of historians of science have not found mainstream ideas in the philosophy of science useful for the framing of their research questions, or for the construction of their research methods. Instead, historians of science have increasingly turned to social and cultural studies for their theoretical and methodological inspiration and resources. However, historians of science stand to lose a great deal by disregarding philosophy entirely. This is because knowledge, inquiry, truth, evidence and reality are important notions operative in scientific practices, and very often they are even actors’ categories. In this talk I offer a kind of philosophy of science that will hopefully be useful and even indispensable for historians of science, based on some ideas articulated in my recent book, Realism for Realistic People: A New Pragmatist Philosophy of Science (Cambridge, 2022). This pragmatist philosophical history of science takes knowledge primarily as an ability to do things (not merely the possession of information), uses “epistemic activities” and “systems of practice” as the main units of analysis, and understands truth and reality as concepts based on the operational coherence of activities. I will illustrate these proposals through the example of one extended study, namely my current work on the history of batteries and “battery science.”
主讲人简介：
张夏硕是一位韩裔美国历史学家、科学哲学家，目前担任剑桥大学科学史和科学哲学系汉斯 ·劳辛讲席教授、系主任，国际科学史与科学哲学联合会(IUHPS)科学技术史分部副主席，曾任英国科学史学会主席。研究兴趣包括18世纪以来的化学史、物理学史; 科学实践哲学; 科学哲学的其他主题，包括实在论、多元论、实用主义、测量等，目前正在撰写一部新书How Does A Battery Work?
