Project

Project description

Project description

The aim of the project is to develop a formalization of epistemology analogous to Frege's formalization of logic. En route to formalization, logic had to undergo a series of fundamental changes and free itself from some deeply-rooted convictions. Beliefs analogous to those which prevented the formalization of logic can also be found in epistemology. The core of the project centres upon five theses setting out the path to a truly formal epistemology. These theses are based on the deeply-held belief that the current trend in the formalization of epistemology is insufficiently radical.

The first thesis asserts the necessity of bringing epistemology into closer contact with mathematics, physics and other exact sciences, and to study the processes of knowledge acquisition in these disciplines.

The second thesis is that the formalization of epistemology requires us to abandon the problems of everyday cognition and refocus on the epistemic processes occurring in the exact sciences (such as measurement, experiment, prediction, approximation and data analysis).

The third thesis is that formal epistemology is not designed to deal with the epistemic acts of empirical subjects, but with objective relations between scientific theories.

The fourth thesis asserts the necessity of extending the general scope of epistemology in a similar manner to Frege’s treatment of logic.

The fifth thesis affirms the need to study the mathematical (and not just logical) structure of scientific knowledge, an approach which could lead to the discovery of new mathematical structures.

A full description of the project can be found here.

About Project

The aim of the project is to develop a formalization of epistemology analogous to Frege’s formalization of logic. The core of the project centres upon five theses setting out the path to a truly formal epistemology. These theses are based on the deeply-held belief that the current trend in the formalization of epistemology is insufficiently radical.

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