David B. Kinney on the Philosophy of Science

Feb 20, 2020

In this discussion, David B. Kinney, an Omidyar Postdoctoral Fellow at SFI and expert in the philosophy of science, sheds light on the intricate relationship between science and philosophy. He explores radical ideas like rational ignorance and the biases that influence scientific inquiry. The conversation delves into causation and probability, particularly in astrobiology, while highlighting the significance of cognitive biases shaped by evolutionary dynamics. Kinney advocates for collaboration between scientific and philosophical communities to tackle systemic inequality and the limitations of human understanding.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 4min

A Journey Through Philosophy and Science

04:10 • 4min

Causality and Probability in Scientific Models

08:12 • 20min

Exploring Cognitive Biases and Evolutionary Dynamics in Science

28:35 • 3min

Rational Ignorance and Systemic Inequality

32:01 • 20min

The Humility of Knowledge in Philosophy and Science

51:41 • 4min

Science is often seen as a pure, objective discipline — as if it all rests neatly on cause and effect. As if the universe acknowledges a difference between ideal categories like “biology” and “physics.” But lately, the authority of science has had to reckon with critiques that it is practiced by flawed human actors inside social institutions. How much can its methods really disclose? Somewhere between the two extremes of scientism and the assertion that all knowledge is a social construct, real scientists continue to explore the world under conditions of uncertainty, ready to revise it all with deeper rigor.

For this great project to continue in spite of our known biases, it’s helpful to step back and ask some crucial questions about the nature, limits, and reliability of science. To answer the most fundamental questions of our cosmos, it is time to bring back the philosophers to articulate a better understanding of how it is that we know what we know in the first place. Some questions — like the nature of causation, where we should look for aliens, and why we might rationally choose not to know important information — might not be answerable without bringing science and philosophy back into conversation with each other.

This week’s guest is David Kinney, an Omidyar Postdoctoral Fellow here at SFI whose research focuses on the philosophy of science and formal epistemology. We talk about his work on rational ignorance, explanatory depth, causation, and more on a tour of a philosophy unlike what most of us may be familiar with from school — one thriving in collaboration with the sciences.

DavidBKinney.com

On the Explanatory Depth and Pragmatic Value of Coarse-Grained, Probabilistic, Causal Explanations.Philosophy of Science. 86(1): 145-167.

Is Causation Scientific?

Visit our website for more information or to support our science and communication efforts.

Join our Facebook discussion group to meet like minds and talk about each episode.

Podcast Theme Music by Mitch Mignano.