Joe Rouse, the Hedding Professor of Moral Science, delivered a faculty fall luncheon talk Oct. 21 on “Radical Naturalism: A Philosophical Research Program.” Rouse has taught in Wesleyan’s Philosophy Department and Science in Society Program since 1981.Rouse’s primary research interests are in the philosophy of science, the history of 20th-century philosophy, and interdisciplinary science studies. The sciences, Rouse explained, need no longer “defer to philosophy for their conceptual grounding. On the contrary, a broadly scientific conception of the world provides the horizons for contemporary philosophy,” he said.In this talk, Rouse explained how he strives to situate scientific understanding in scientific practice. “The experimental and observational systems and the practices and skills that the sciences develop are not just a means to scientific knowledge that then stands on its own. They are integral to scientific understanding,” he said.
Olivia Drake
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