Philosopher receives prestigious prolongation grant

The new research project aims to propose a socio-epistemic reading of Aristotle's theory of science, and of its medieval counterpart. The socio-epistemic reading of Aristotelian theory of science will also shed light on the complex relation between Aristotelian dialectic and demonstrative science.
 
Ana María Mora Márquez, researcher in Theoretical Philosophy, is one of only twelve scientists in Sweden admitted to this prolongation grant in 2021. She can now continue with her research for another five years thanks to the grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
 
What is new in your approach compared to five years ago when you were appointed Wallenberg Academy Fellow? Have you changed direction?
”Not really, I have been working, with Gustavo Fernández Walker, on Aristotle’s dialectic and its medieval reception. Our work has naturally led me to the question of the relation between Aristotle’s views on dialectic and science, which are often considered to be contradictory with each other. My new aim is to show that a socio-epistemic reading of Aristotelian science dissolves this contradiction”, says Ana María Mora Márquez.
 
Is it too early to answer: What were Aristotle’s views on science?
” Yes, it's too early in our work to answer what were his views on science if we read Aristotle within the theoretical framework that I propose. But I hope to show that Aristotelian science is fundamentally a human practice of which demonstrative science is only one of several possibilities and for which dialectic is a fundamental method.”
 
Please tell us a little more about your project plans of today.
”I would say that my plan in the long term is to shed light on science in general partly by understanding the sciences of the past. My plans of today are to produce the first blocks of a pragmatic genealogy of science.”
 
 Text: Monica Havström