-Shivprajval Divakar We can now say that we have carried out (in however rudimentary a form) an experiment. At this point, it may prove fruitful to keep in mind what we did while carrying out the experiment and ask why we did it. The most obvious question first- Why do Read more…
-Shivprajval Divakar Activity 2 in Chapter 7 of the NCERT textbook for Science (Class 6) is an experiment which the textbook claims to establish that the stem transports water and minerals to different parts of the plant. It involves adding a few drops of red or blue ink to a Read more…
-Shivprajval Divakar I begin with Chapter 7 from the 6th standard NCERT textbook for Science titled, ‘Getting to Know Plants’. It is in the 6th standard that science is first introduced as a separate subject, although the subject of Environmental Science is taught from 3rd to 5th standard. Chapter 7 Read more…
-Shivprajval Divakar This series began as an attempt to understand the scientific method and the nature of scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge is associated with terms such as ‘evidence-based’ and ‘objective’. The scientific method is associated with terms such as ‘experiment design’, ‘data collection’, ‘hypothesis testing’, and ‘falsifiability’. There are multiple Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ ” Indian theories of doubt range from the sceptical mode in some Buddhist schools to a pragmatic approach by philosophies such as Nyaya. Descartes’ methodology of doubt has been extremely influential in philosophy of science. The Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai characterizes the role Indian Logic can play in understanding the nature of Science- ” In recent times, there have been many claims about the relationship of modern science with ancient Indian traditions. In this Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai offers an introduction to Indian Logic- ” It is commonly believed that logic is unique to the Greeks and, through this, to the Western civilization. At the same time, many philosophers in the West Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai now considers whether other activities also rely on the use of logic- ” Given what we understand by logic, it is indeed difficult to see how only science is concerned with logic. Even theology Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai addresses the question of where logic is to be found in Science- “From the ancient Greek tradition to modern logic, logic is presumed to have certain characteristics: it is universal, is not related to Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai introduces logic to the reader in the following manner- ” We are endowed with sensory organs that allow us to experience the world. Our knowledge of the objects in the world is derived from Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ “One of the most enduring images of science is its special relationship with logic and rationality. In fact, the logic associated with science is often seen to rub off on the scientists so much so that Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ ” What does a scientist do when she has solved a problem, derived a new result or made some new observations? Typically, if she is in an academic institution, she will write her result in the Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai addresses what the work of an experimental scientist entails- “What do experimenters do in their everyday work? The paradigm of experiments must be the test tube experiments in schools, where students mix chemicals and Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai comments on another aspect of what scientists do- “Arguably the most important marker of science is this capacity to build institutions at all levels of the society. Science is primarily an activity of establishing Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai elaborates on the role of scientific models in theoretical work- ” Scientists spend an inordinate amount of time playing around with models and not with the phenomena of the world.” (Page 38) ” Newton Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai elucidates on the many things scientists do since it is often said that science is what scientists do. “Scientists go to office just like countless others. They have various tasks in their offices. They Read more…
-Shivprajval Divakar Karl Popper was an influential philosopher of science of the 20th century. He addressed issues related to how theories gain acceptance in science as opposed to how this happens in other fields of study. He argued that theories in science can not only be verified, but also make Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai explores the idea of science as a worldview- ” In an earlier section, I had mentioned Feynman’s description of science as a capacity to think critically. In the same talk, he also talks about Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s book, ‘What is Science?’ Dr. Sarukkai addresses the relationship between Science and Truth- “Science has an intrinsic engagement with truth. It is based on the belief that what is says about the world are the truths about the world. Scientists Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s Book, ‘What is Science?’ We now continue from the last post, and summarize further points from the book. Dr Sarukkai elaborates on the idea of science that Karl Popper, a famous philosopher used in his attempts to demarcate scientific hypotheses Read more…
Part of a Series of Excerpts from Prof. Sundar Sarukkai’s book,’What is Science?’ Dr Sarukkai offers some perspectives prevalent in the 19th century, relevant to science – “…the ‘scientist’ of those times moved between science, theology, political economy and even literature.” “Before the use of the word ‘science’ to refer Read more…
Dr Tanu Biswas Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Philosophy, University of Bayreuth The word childism can well provoke ideas that I do not wish to suggest. Therefore, it seems appropriate to me to introduce the philosophical approach “childism” with some preliminary clarifications as to what I will not propose: Childism is Read more…
by Dr Ananya Barua & Aradhana Gupta. Sexuality is a complex phenomenon, particularly when looked at from a social perspective. This is primarily because the various dimensions of sexuality are not alike in all individuals. This is to say that everyone exhibits a variety of different desires and behaviors that Read more…
by Nitesh Anchan. Introduction How should humans treat non-human beings? In other words, what is the correct or right mode of action towards members of non-human species? The ‘how’ question, i.e. how to treat non-human beings, relies on the ‘what’ question, i.e. what ‘are’ non-human beings. The ‘what’ question is Read more…
by Varun S Bhatta. 1. Introduction To say that there are variations in ontological stances about the concrete world (apart from the obvious one that there are many different kinds of material things) might seem absurd at first. We see things like trees, animals, mountains, tables, and other natural things Read more…
by Varun S Bhatta. 1. Introduction We have an intuitive grasp of what is there and what is not there around us. The trees and the building are present not only for me but for others too. The same is true of the Taj Mahal, which I cannot see from Read more…
by A Raghurama Raju. There are two genres of writers, authors, and compilers. Similarly, ethical interventions in society can take two approaches, philanthropy, and altruism. In this piece, I will discuss the relationship between the altruist and the compiler. The relationship between the author and their text is clear and Read more…
by Abbas Bagwala. Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. He rose to prominence on social media after his controversial interview with Channel 4 News. The cause of his fame was his denial to accept Bill C-16 of the Canadian Read more…
by Ramakash Gujuluva Suryaprakash. As a student of law, a typical introductory class begins with these simple questions: a) what is the law; and b) what is the relevance/need of law. While it is difficult to define the term ‘law’ with precision, students generally come up with various opinions as Read more…
by S. Siddharth. Consciousness and why it is a problem It seems like not a week passes without someone proclaiming that the human mind and consciousness is the final frontier for science, perhaps forever beyond its reach. It’s even more surprising when it is sometimes leading scientists themselves who say Read more…
by Mahak Uppal. The term “dialogue” is defined by the Oxford online dictionary as “taking part in a conversation or discussion to resolve a problem”. It is derived from the root “dia” meaning “through or across” and “legin” meaning “to speak”. In its most popular usage, therefore, a dialogue is Read more…
by Dr Enakshi Ray Mitra. We habitually say that our erotic experiences have an irrevocably given status – they are not available to alternative modes of interpretation. By contrast, an experience of a material object like a long pencil, for instance, maybe said to dissipate in different directions – say Read more…
Verbal communication is ubiquitous in our lives. Whether it is to pass information, make jokes, tease each other, praise someone, or to express feelings – all of these activities involve using words to form sentences that are then communicated to the hearer. The hearers, on their part, put together these Read more…
by Meera Baindur. Abstract When the sages of the Upanishads are speaking of nature and speaking of the sacred they were drawing deep connections between nature, human beings, and life. These insights reveal to us a renewed understanding of the way we should relate to nature that not only realigns Read more…
by Ashwin Jayanti. What is philosophy of technology? And what accounts for the increase in popularity of this field of inquiry? These are the questions that might plague any curious reader, who might presume that this is just another fad in the philosophical trend of associating itself to whatever subject Read more…