Science and Humanism

Historically and conceptually, influential traditions of thought and practice associated with humanism and science have been deeply connected. This book explores some of the most pivotal relations of humanistic and scientific engagement with the world to inspire a reconsideration of them in the present. Collectively, its contributions illuminate a fundamental but contested feature of a broadly humanist worldview: the hope that science may help to improve the human condition, as well as the myriad relationships of humanity to the natural and social worlds in which we live. Arguably, these relationships are now more profoundly interwoven with our sciences and technologies than ever before. Addressing scientific and other forms of inquiry, approaches to integrating humanism with science, and cases in which science has failed, succeeded, and could do more to promote our collective welfare, this book enjoins us to articulate a compelling, humanist conception of the sciences for our times. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Anjan Chakravartty is the Appignani Foundation Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami. He is the author of A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism: Knowing the Unobservable (2007) and Scientific Ontology: Integrating Naturalized Metaphysics and Voluntarist Epistemology (2017).