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SUMMARY:The beauty of science without the science of beauty - Angela Breit
 enbach (Faculty of Philosophy)
DTSTART:20150507T143000Z
DTEND:20150507T160000Z
UID:TALK58788@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Richard Staley
DESCRIPTION:It is common to praise the beauty of theories\, the elegance o
 f proofs\, the simplicity of explanations and the unity of theoretical sys
 tems. We admire the beauty of Einstein's theory of general relativity\, th
 e simplicity of Darwin's idea of evolution by natural selection\, and the 
 elegance of a geometrical proof of Pythagoras' theorem. And yet the use of
  aesthetic criteria in science is as controversial as it is widespread. Di
 fficulties arise on two sides. Philosophers of science have long wondered 
 why apparently subjective concerns for the beauty and elegance of theories
  should play any role in the search for objective knowledge. Aestheticians
  have questioned the supposedly aesthetic character of scientists' judgmen
 ts of beauty.\n\nMy focus in this paper is on the second set of questions\
 , and my aim to spell out an answer the roots of which I trace back to Kan
 t. I argue that\, on Kant's account\, the beauty of science cannot be iden
 tified with the properties of theories\, proofs or explanations. But I rej
 ect the popular conception\, which portrays Kant as diametrically opposed 
 to the rationalist endorsements of the science of beauty as well as the be
 auty of science. I argue instead that we can take from Kant the notion of 
 a distinctive aesthetic experience\, associated with our contemplating and
  understanding the results of science. This answer may prove fruitful not 
 only for aesthetics but also for tackling the first set of questions\, rai
 sed by philosophers of science.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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