ELFT HÍRADÓ

["Laszlo E. Szabo" <leszabo AT hps.elte.hu>]

Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University
Budapest, Pazmany P. setany 1/A

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE SEMINAR
(http://hps.elte.hu/seminar)
________________________________________________
3 December4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54
(Language: English)

G u n t h e r   F l e c k
Psychology Service of the Austrian Armed Forces, Vienna
Philosophy of Science and Social Studies of Science, University of
Vienna

Reality Testing and Knowledge Production: A Psychological View of the
Realism-Antirealism Controversy

There are two basic positions in regard to knowledge about the world and
reality which can be traced as far back as the times of the philosophers
of ancient Greece. On the one hand, there is the position of those who
believe that there exists a way of knowing allowing an objective access
to the structures of the world and reality beyond observation. On the
other hand, there is the position of those who argue that no such way of
ontological knowing exists. The former is known as (scientific) realism,
the latter as antirealism. Both positions provide a lot of good reasons
for their stance and against the contrary one. From a philosophical
point of view the disputation seems to be held on a pure rational level.
However, empirical evidence shows that in (scientific) reasoning
emotional factors are always involved and that pure rationalism is
nothing but a big myth. Starting with a psychological analysis of human
reality testing ability as an important adaptation principle in every
day life, an attempt is made to identify the implicit emotional factors
underlying scientific reasoning and co-determining the preferences for
epistemological positions.


___________________
The organizer of the seminar: László E. Szabó

--
Laszlo E. Szabo
Department of Theoretical Physics
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University, Budapest
H-1518 Budapest, Pf. 32, Hungary
Phone/Fax: (36-1)372-2924
Home: (36-1) 200-7318
Mobil/SMS: (36) 20-366-1172
http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo