Science vs. Skepticism: Are Objectivity and Knowledge Possible?

Join philosophy student Arkadiusz Synowczyk to explore the topic of objectivity of scientific knowledge, skepticism, and relativism! This salon is the first episode in a series on the nature of science – its power, limits, and the potential dangers it poses.

Debates about the possibility of objective knowledge are relevant not only to the ivory tower. Societies that uphold the power of the human mind choose different, more ambitious and courageous forms of organizing society than those which believe otherwise. Just as the proper place of the human in the universe differs if his cognitive capacities are fundamentally powerful, rather than powerless.

Science is often taken as the paradigm example of knowledge. After all, who could doubt the propositions of geometry and physics that we learned in school? Yet, as millennia of philosophy, skeptical and relativistic arguments have shown us, such doubt is indeed possible. Join us, therefore, for an important exploration and discussion of those arguments.

The topics discussed in the salon will include:

• Can we trust our senses?
• Could we all be simply dreaming right now?
• Can science give us objective knowledge?
• Is there certainty, or only probability?

Recommended materials and suggestions for further research will be uploaded here.

The series features free, one-on-one office hours for series ticket holders, which can be booked here.