The Aesthetics of Science: Beauty, Imagination and Understanding

Description

This volume builds on two recent developments in philosophy on the relationship between art and science: the notion of representation and the role of values in theory choice and the development of scientific theories. Its aim is to address questions regarding scientific creativity and imagination, the status of scientific performances—such as thought experiments and visual aids—and the role of aesthetic considerations in the context of discovery and justification of scientific theories. Several contributions focus on the concept of beauty as employed by practising scientists, the aesthetic factors at play in science and their role in decision making. Other essays address the question of scientific creativity and how aesthetic judgment resolves the problem of theory choice by employing aesthetic criteria and incorporating insights from both objectivism and subjectivism. The volume also features original perspectives on the role of the sublime in science and sheds light on the empirical work studying the experience of the sublime in science and its relation to the experience of understanding. The Aesthetics of Science tackles these topics from a variety of novel and thought-provoking angles. It will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in philosophy of science and aesthetics, as well as other subdisciplines such as epistemology and philosophy of mathematics. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1 Introduction to the Volume 2 Epistemic Gatekeepers: The Role of Aesthetic Factors in Science 3 Getting the Picture: Towards a New Account of Scientific Understanding 4 Imagination, Aesthetic Feelings, and Scientific Reasoning 5 Beauty, Truth and Understanding 6 A Plea for the Sublime in Science 7 How Can Loveliness Be a Guide to Truth? Inference to the Best Explanation and Exemplars 8 The Aesthetic and Literary Qualities of Scientific Thought Experiments 9 Epistemic Radicals and the Vice of Arrogance as a Counterfeit to the Virtue of Assured Epistemic Ambition 10 Performance and Practice: Situating the Aesthetic Qualities of Theories List of Contributors Name Index Subject Index