Teadusfilosoofia humaniora ja realia vahel. Mõtisklus Tartu Ülikooli juhtiva teadusfilosoofi elutöö kuuluvusega seonduvast

Philosophy of sciencebetween humaniora and realiaRein Vihalemm (1938–2015) was the most influential philosopher ofscience in Estonia and perhaps in the entire Baltic States’ region.However, the applications of his alma mater, the University of Tartu,on awarding Professor Vihalemm with a lifetime achievement awardwere rejected twice on the grounds that Vihalemm was a humanistphilosopher and should have been more well-known in society to qualifyfor such an award.This paper discusses the position of the philosophy of science andthe role of philosophers of science in the academic landscape. Themain argument is that both the field and philosopher are stuck in ano man’s land between the natural sciences and humanities. Theycannot be considered as a part of the former or latter.The paper touches briefly on some of the main ideas of Rein Vihalemm,e.g., his solution to the problem of demarcation by means ofmaking a distinction between constructive hypothetic-deductive andclassifying historical-descriptive types of cognition. The former is thebasis of Vihalemm’s theoretical model of science proper that he calledᵠ-science.Fortunately, the colleagues and disciples of Rein Vihalemm haveaccess to his texts and can develop his thoughts further

Metaphysics: Inside or Outside of Science?

For decades, the British philosopher of science Nicholas Maxwell has been promoting a new approach to science called aim-oriented empiricism. Maxwell's basic claim is that the regular way of doing science, called standard empiricism, is untenable because it does not account for the basic general assumptions that scientists actually adhere to without acknowledgment. Standard empiricism is unable to make sense of the progress of science as it is happening. The alternative approach that Maxwell advocates, aim-oriented empiricism, acknowledges some basic metaphysical assumptions, comprehensibility, unity and simplicity as inherent parts of science itself. By including these metaphysical assumptions into science, Maxwell is looking for ways to make sense of the progress of science from a philosophical perspective. This paper challenges Maxwell's claim with the help of another new approach to science, practical realism. While the founder of practical realism, Rein Vihalemm, claims that his approach is closely related to Maxwell's views, he does not acknowledge any need for metaphysics in science

Gauss' letter to fuss of 4 April 1803

AbstractC. F. Gauss in his letter of 4 April 1803 to Niklaus Fuss, the permanent secretary of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, says that he cannot accept the employment offered in St. Petersburg. At the same time he writes of his observations of the asteroid Pallas. This letter is here published for the first time with commentary on the historical context

The Changing Role of Scientific Experiment

Practical realism is focused on the problem of how science really works. In the case of physics and chemistry, experiment is the centrepiece of scientific practice. The rapid development of contemporary natural science does not leave the experiment unaffected. The classical experiment is normally applied only to systems that can be considered structurally stable, repeatability being the key feature. After the introduction of the theoretical basis of irreversibility by Ilya Prigogine the essence of the experiment changed. The strict requirement of repeatability has to be dropped. It will be discussed, whether the change is big enough for calling it revolutionary. There are means to update the understanding of the experiment by applying the experimental settings. The material experiment will probably be with us forever but its position on the scientific landscape will be shifted

Metaphysics: Inside or Outside of Science?

For decades, the British philosopher of science Nicholas Maxwell has been promoting a new approach to science called aim-oriented empiricism. Maxwell's basic claim is that the regular way of doing science, called standard empiricism, is untenable because it does not account for the basic general assumptions that scientists actually adhere to without acknowledgment. Standard empiricism is unable to make sense of the progress of science as it is happening. The alternative approach that Maxwell advocates, aim-oriented empiricism, acknowledges some basic metaphysical assumptions, comprehensibility, unity and simplicity as inherent parts of science itself. By including these metaphysical assumptions into science, Maxwell is looking for ways to make sense of the progress of science from a philosophical perspective. This paper challenges Maxwell's claim with the help of another new approach to science, practical realism. While the founder of practical realism, Rein Vihalemm, claims that his approach is closely related to Maxwell's views, he does not acknowledge any need for metaphysics in science

THE AIM OF SCIENCE– KNOWLEDGE OR WISDOM

The typical way to express the aim of science is to connect it with knowledge pursuit. This aim has been so strongly felt that sometimes typical scientific research has been called knowledge-inquiry. There is nothing wrong with knowledge as such. Especially when we have the knowledge of the highest quality, the scientific one, in mind. Still, science today should aim higher, surpass knowledge as its final goal and reach for wisdom. This brings about the need to implement wisdom-inquiry instead of knowledge-inquiry as Nicholas Maxwell has suggested. In order to succeed, the problems of living rather than the problems of knowledge have to be brought to the foreground.Keywords: Nicholas Maxwell, knowledge-inquiry, wisdom-inquiry, Rein Vihalemm, φ-scienceMokslo tikslas – žinojimas ar išmintisPeeter Müürsepp   SantraukaMokslo tikslas paprastai išreiškiamas siejant jį su žinojimo siekiu. Šis tikslas juntamas taip stipriai, jog kartais net ir tipinis mokslinis tyrimas vadinamas į pažinimą orientuotu tyrinėjimu (angl. knowledge-inquiry). Žinojimas savaime nėra blogas dalykas. Ypač kai galvoje turima aukščiausioji žinojimo kokybė – mokslinis žinojimas. Tačiau šiandieną mokslas turėtų kelti aukštesnius tikslus – peržengti žinojimą kaip galutinį tikslą ir siekti išminties. Taip atsiranda poreikis vietoje į pažinimą orientuoto tyrinėjimo vykdyti į išmintį orientuotą tyrinėjimą (angl. wisdom-inquiry), kaip siūlė Nicholas Maxwellas. Norint užtikrinti sėkmę, pirmame plane turi atsidurti ne žinojimo, bet gyvenimo problemos.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: Nicholas Maxwell, į pažinimą orientuotas tyrinėjimas, į išmintį orientuotas tyri­nėjimas, Rein Vihalem

Nuo dvejopos chemijos prigimties prie praktinio realizmo ir atgalios: R. Vihalemmo mokslo filosofija

The focus of the paper is on Rein Vihalemm’s novel approach to science called practical realism. From the perspective of Vihalemm, science is not only theoretical but first and foremost a practical activity. This kind of approach puts chemistry rather than physics into the position of a typical science as chemistry has a dual character resting on both constructive-hypothetico-deductive (ϕ-science) and classifying-historico-descriptive (non-ϕ-science) types of cognition. Chemists deal with finding out the laws of nature like the physicists. However, in addition to this they deal with substances or stuff that is rather an activity typical to natural history. The analysis of the dual character of chemistry brings about the need to analyse philosophically the reasons why physics has held the position of the only science proper so far. The comparative analysis of physics and chemistry at the basis of practical realism suggests that it is chemistry rather than physics that should hold a special position among sciences. Perhaps we should exchange ϕ-science for χ-science.Straipsnyje susitelkiama į vadinamąjį praktinį realizmą – naujovišką Reino Vihalemmo prieigą prie mokslo. Pagal Vihalemmą, mokslas nėra tik teorinis, bet pirmiausia ir daugiausia – praktinis užsiėmimas. Tokia traktuotė vietoje fizikos kaip tipinį mokslą iškelia chemiją, nes ji esanti dvejopo pobūdžio: konstruktyvus-hipotetinis-deduktyvus mokslas (ϕ mokslas) ir tuo pat metu – klasifikacinis-istorinis-deskriptyvus mokslas (ne ϕ mokslas). Chemikai aiškinasi gamtos dėsnius taip pat kaip ir fizikai. Vis dėlto kartu jie dirba ir su medžiagomis, su konkrečiais daiktais, o ši veikla yra labiau gamtos istorijos užsiėmimas. Chemijos kaip dvejopo mokslo analizė iškelia poreikį filosofiškai išaiškinti priežastis, dėl kurių fizika iki šiol laikoma vieninteliu tikruoju mokslu. Praktiniu realizmu grindžiama lyginamoji fizikos ir chemijos mokslų analizė rodo, kad veikiau chemija nei fizika turėtų užimti ypatingą vietą tarp mokslų; galbūt ϕ mokslas turėtų pakeisti χ mokslą

Aspergilloos ninakõrvalurgetes

Aspergilloos on kõige sagedasem sinonasaalne seeninfektsioon. Haigus võib kulgeda invasiivse või mitteinvasiivse vormina. Haigestuvad tavaliselt eelnevalt nõrgenenud immuunsusega inimesed. Sagedasim haigustekitaja on Aspergillus fumigatus. Infektsiooni diagnoosi kinnitab siinuse koetüki või aspiraadi patohistoloogilise uuringu positiivne vastus. Mitteinvasiivse aspergilloosi ravi kuldstandardiks on FESS (funktsionaalne endoskoopiline siinuste operatsioon), invasiivne aspergilloos nõuab radikaalsemat kirurgilist sekkumist ja süsteemset antifungaal set ravi. Artiklis on ka illustratiivne ülevaade kroonilise sinuiidi ja aspergilloosiga meespatsiendi haigusjuhust. Eesti Arst 2010; 89(2):107−11