Sciter MSCA Project

I am a Marie Sklodowska-Curie MSCA-IF Fellow (2019-2022), working on the History and Philosophy of Scientific Tools (link: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/845008). The project is based at the Department of Philosophy KGW of the University of Salzburg (hosted by C. Werndl) and at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Geneva (hosted by M.Weber).

In this project I mainly aim at defending a novel analysis of Scientific Thought Experiments (TEs). This account describes their common structure and locates their epistemic function as inconsistency revealers and resolvers: TEs reveal an inconsistency in part of our previously held, sometimes empirically well-established, theoretical statements and offer a way out in the form of a conjecture, a hypothesis that merit further investigation.

To do this, the project is divided into two parts. First I aim at historically analyzing case studies of TEs from different sciences (physics, biology and mathematics). Second I aim at conducting a comparative analysis between several tools and their epistemologies, in particular between TEs, Computer Simulations (CSs), Scientific Models (SMs) and Analogical Experiments (AEs).

The results of the first part of my research (for the second see below) are already contained in four published papers entitled “Probing Theoretical Statements with Thought Experiments” (Synthese); “The function and limit of Galileo’s falling bodies thought experiment: Absolute weight, specific weight and the medium’s resistance” (Croatian Journal of Philosophy); “What notion of possibility should we use in assessing scientific thought experiments?” (Latu Sensu); “Unfolding in the empirical sciences: experiments, thought experiments and computer simulations” with Prof. Cyrille Imbert (Synthese).

Concerning the second objective, I already organised a bi-monthly seminar and co-organized the workshop “Scientific and Epistemic Tools”, which led to a Topical Collection of Synthese entitled “Surrogative Reasoning in the Sciences” that I am co-editing with Laura Felline (Roma), Patricia Palacios (Salzburg) and Giovanni Valente (Milano) https://www.springer.com/journal/11229/updates/18897284. Also, I am currently organising a bi-monthly seminar on surrogative reasoning and writing several papers