Philosophy of Science Lessons

The end of November marked the end of the series of Philosophy of Science seminars, as part of the "Broaden Your Frame" cycle. The four lessons were held by Ivan Moscati, a Bocconi faculty member and an Associate Professor of Economics at the Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, who retraced with students the history of philosophy of science during the first half of the 20th century. From Carnap's logical positivism, to Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions, up to the last two lessons during which he analyzed the issues debated by contemporary philosophers of science: the dispute about realism and anti-realism and the debates about the connection between the concepts of scientific explanation and causality. "Since this first path on philosophical issues aroused the interest of students, as evidenced by the number of enrolled students, we decided to propose a second cycle of seminars on moral philosophy for the second semester," says Antonella Carù, Dean of the Graduate School.

The cycle of seminars was attended by students from different graduate programs, who appreciated the opportunity to analyze some concepts, usually addressed in class, from a brand new point of view. "First of all, it was a good chance for me to recover some basic notions of philosophy, treated more superficially in high school", says Martina Beretta, who studies Economic and Social Sciences. "What made the seminars interesting was Moscati's ability to apply philosophical concepts to examples closely linked to the world of economics and to current events".

"A very important aspect", adds Alessio Benedetti, who studies Marketing Management, "Is that the seminars have made us understand that philosophical criticism is a fundamental approach to research: when we research we are not simply looking for the correct answer to a problem, nor even necessarily for a confirmation of our opinions. Research must be an opportunity to continually question oneself, and this is what philosophical tools are for".