Scientific knowledge acquisition: a cognitive approach.

Science is a recent historical phenomenon with characteristic methods of investigation and rules for reasoning and drawing inferences. Scientific theories and results often run counter to our intuitions, for example in the domains of particle physics and evolutionary biology. Yet scientists draw on the same cognitive resources as other people, and they are subject to the same cognitive limitations. How can people produce scientific knowledge within the scope and limitations of their cognitive capacities? This project will seek an answer to this question by developing a broad philosophical framework that integrates theories and results from cognitive science, including developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind. In this way, I aim to obtain a better insight into the cognitive basis of scientific knowledge acquisition. I will focus on the following research questions: (1) To what extent is scientific reasoning continuous with everyday modes of reasoning? (2) What implications can philosophers of science draw from cognitive science about scientific practice and understanding? (3) What is the role of distributed cognition in scientific practice? I will examine the cognitive resources with which humans are naturally endowed, and the way we supplement these with artefacts (e.g., measuring devices, computers, books) and (natural or formal) languages.

Keywords:Cognitive science, Distributed cognition, Scientific understanding, Scientific knowledge, Philosophy of science, Philosophy of mind

Disciplines:General pedagogical and educational sciences, Communication sciences, Philosophy, Other philosophy, ethics and religious studies not elsewhere classified, Theory and methodology of philosophy, Ethics