Oscar

@oscarw.bsky.social

2038 Followers 820 Following

Philosophy postdoc at the University of Iceland. PhD from HPS Cambridge. Interested in philosophy of science, logic, language, and pragmatism.

BLVR: That reminds me, I forgot to ask about Richard Rorty. You’re friends with him, though you don’t agree with his philosophy? MG: We are friends, but you can’t agree with his philosophy. It doesn’t exist! He’s a wit! He should’ve lived in the eighteenth century. He just makes clever remarks that don’t mean anything. The thing about Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature is based on a total misinterpretation of Kant. It’s totally wrong about Kant, and I’m sort of a Kant person.
The Early Works of John Dewey
A screenshot of the title and abstract of an academic article: Title: Scientific Understanding Beyond Representing: Lessons from Ian Hacking’s Work. Authors: Oscar Westerblad and Henk W. de Regt. Abstract: We argue that Ian Hacking’s work on experimentation and styles of reasoning offers valuable insights for the current debate on the nature of scientific understanding, which so far has largely been focused on the role of theories and explanations. Hacking’s suggestion that reasoning not only involves thinking but also doing helps to recognise the role of experimentation and manipulation in scientific understanding. We apply this idea by relating Hacking’s views on explanation and theorising to the contextual theory of scientific understanding developed by one of us (De Regt 2017). We then take a constructive approach by developing an account of pragmatic understanding that accommodates styles of reasoning and the centrality of manipulation and intervention in Hacking’s philosophy of science. Our overall aim in the paper is to bring the neglected role of experimentation in producing scientific understanding to the fore. We conclude by suggesting that scientific understanding involves both representing and intervening.
Very clear reflection of parts of Reykjavik in a frozen over lake, with the photo turned upside down; the sky is blue with clouds, the reflection shows a church and buildings
A frozen lake in the city of Reykjavik, with the cityscape in the background and mountains covered in snow in the distance
A speaker (Helen Longino) giving a talk to an audience, standing behind a lectern and in front a lecture slides with pictures of lichens and dodders
A photo of a paper titled ‘The Epistemic Approach — Scientific Progress as the Accumulation of Knowledge’ by Alexander Bird in the book New Philosophical Perspectives on Scientific Progress
Pictures William James, John Dewey, and Charles Peirce, three American pragmatists
A speaker, the philosopher Philipp Haueis, presenting in front of a slide with the title ‘Book Project: “the conceptual fabric of science”’.
The speaker, the philosopher Anna Alexandrova, in front of a PowerPoint projection, which reads “Cartrwright’s strategies: - Dovetailing metaphysics and methodology - Intervening above representing - “Short and stocky” arguments better than “long and elegant” ones - Tacit knowledge of practitioners - Formalisms only in the service of practice” Presentation has a drawing of the philosopher of science Nancy Cartwright as a short and stocky woodcutter. The presentation is taking place in grand room with paintings, one of which is Francis Bacon looking down over the room.
A picture of a green bejeweled prayer book on display behind glass, thought to have belonged to Thomas Cromwell, captured in painting by Holbein.
A note stuck to a wall describing a cluttered table as if it were a piece of art. The note reads “Artist Unknown. Cluttered Table, 2023. Glass, Wood, and Paper. A cornerstone of the HPS collection, this piece invites us to encounter conflicting emotions. While the unorganized array of materials might evoke a sense of chaos and loss of control, the cool tones and limited palette also create a sense of calm and comfort. This startling juxtaposition demonstrates the unmitigated skill of the artist to invite us to contemplate what it means to find peace in a chaotic world.”
A photo of Bas van Fraassen looking unimpressed
Title slide of presentation for the Philosophy of Science Association Conference.
Front page of Robert Musil’s book, On Mach’s Theories, with an introduction by Georg Henrik von Wright
A sign reading ‘Camus Ban’
Picture of A. W. Carus’s book, Carnap and Twentieth-Century Thought