Stephan Hartmann

Prof. Dr. Stephan Hartmann, Munich

Time

January 18, 11.00: Scientific Methods and Development of University

Topic

Simulations and the Future of Research

Computer simulations play an increasingly important role in science. For example, natural and social scientists use them to analyse data, to generate new hypotheses, and to explore the consequences and features of theoretical models, to mention only a few of their functions. Meanwhile computer simulations are even used in the humanities (”big data”). As a result of the increasing computational power of computers and the availability of convenient software, it became possible to easily run computer simulations. They became a standard tool in the toolbox of many scientists. These new opportunities change the way we do science, and these changes are not always only positive. This talk explores the vices and virtues of computer simulations in science and addresses a number of epistemological problems they raise. We will end with some speculations about the future of research and the role computer simulations might play in it.

About Prof. Dr. Stephan Hartmann (MCMP, LMU Munich)

Stephan Hartmann is Professor of Philosophy of Science in the Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and the Study of Religion at LMU Munich, Alexander von Humboldt Professor, and Co-Director of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP). His primary research and teaching areas are philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, formal epistemology, and social epistemology. He published numerous articles and the book Bayesian Epistemology (with Luc Bovens) that appeared in 2003 with Oxford University Press. His current research interests include formal social epistemology (especially models of deliberation, norm emergence, and pluralistic ignorance), the philosophy and psychology of reasoning, intertheoretic relations, and (imprecise) probabilities in quantum mechanics. He is also working on the book Bayesian Philosophy of Science (with Jan Sprenger), which is under contract with Oxford University Press.

More information: stephanhartmann.org