Seminarraum VI der Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät, Karl-Rahner-Platz 3, 1. OG
Teil der Reihe Truth, Trust, and Democracy
Abstract zum Vortrag
Recently there has been a surge of so-called “post-truth phenomena” that are shaking the foundations of liberal democratic societies. At the heart of this epistemic crisis is a deep distrust of science and the sincerity of its practitioners. This distrust has been fostered not least by intellectual currents that seek to expose scientific findings as interest-driven constructs.
In light of these developments, it seems worthwhile to take a closer look at Michael Polanyi's (1891-1976) epistemology and philosophy of science, which has not received much attention in current philosophical debate. Drawing on his own experience as a natural scientist, Polanyi developed a sophisticated argument for the trustworthiness of science in response to the anti-scientific tendencies of his time, which had proliferated since the 1930s under the influence of Marxism. In this presentation, I will reconstruct key aspects of his argument and work out its persuasive core. I will focus on Polanyi’s theory of tacit knowledge, his account of the heuristic genesis of scientific theories, and his understanding of the scientific system as comparable to that of a republic. Against this background, I discuss the extent to which his approach can provide a convincing response to the recent scepticism about science.
Bio
Stefan Kosak is a doctoral candidate at the Munich School of Philosophy. His most recent publications are ’Bitch is Not a Term of Endearment’: A Metaethical Reflection on the Presumed Value Monism of Trash TV (with Claudia Paganini) and Was ist gemeint, wenn von Nachhaltigkeit die Rede ist? Über die Notwendigkeit kritischer journalistischer Aufklärungsarbeit zum Thema Nachhaltigkeit. He was awarded the Junior Researcher Prize of the Communication and Media Ethics Section of The German Communication Association (DGPuK).
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