What is science?

Everyone knows what science is … or, at least, they think they do. Try to define it and things get a bit less clear.

The word comes from the Latin ‘scientia’, which just means ‘knowledge’. So, is science knowledge about how nature really is? How can that be true when scientific theories themselves change over time, when the reality they address surely doesn’t? Is science just a way of thinking about the world to build a body of theories - hypotheses based on observations? Or is it a process, a way of acquiring facts? And what makes a scientific fact true?

Considering the importance of science in our lives, we should arguably have a clearer picture about what it is. So, the Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum is seeking clarification from three major philosophers of science of the 20th century: Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn and Imre Lakatos.

The seminar will be presented by Richard Remelie

Good to know: We take pride in putting the fun back into serious philosophy through our friendly and respectful discussions involving different levels of experience of philosophy. The Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum is all about collectively exploring interesting and exciting ideas from different viewpoints … not winning arguments!

Richard Remelie’s focus paper What is Science? should be read before the Forum to enrich and guide our discussions.

Please visit this link on our website to download the paper:

https://www.manlitphil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-06-22-What-Is-Science.pdf

We are usually oversubscribed, so if you book but find out later that you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket to free up a place for someone else. Thank you.

Host or Publisher The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society