Mauro Dorato: 

Science and Representative Democracy 

This enlarged English-language translation of Disinformazione Scientifica e Democrazia, Cortina, Milan, argues that the advancement of science depends on an exponential process of specialization, accompanied by the creation of technical languages that are less and less accessible to the general public. The book reveals how such a process must align with representative forms of democracies, in which knowledge and decision-making are pyramided in terms of the general interest. Despite being based on the principle of competence, the role of experts as mediators of scientific knowledge threatens the autonomy of the citizen and calls for new ways to increase the level of literacy about science and its philosophical and probabilistic foundations, thereby avoiding the risks of technocracies. Using an opposition between pluralism and conformism, Science and Representative Democracy reveals the obstacles to the functioning of both science and democracy.

Published in 2023

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Gerhard Schurz:

Optimality Justifications
New Foundations for Epistemology

 The leading idea of epistemology in the enlightenment tradition was foundation-theoretic: to reach knowledge we must not legitimize our beliefs by external authorities, but justify them by rational arguments. Presently the foundation-theoretic ideal of justification has come under attack, the chief criticism being that been that its universal standards of justification are illusionary because the justificational regress problem is unsolvable. Alternatives to foundation-theoretic epistemology such as coherentism, externalism or dogmatism have been developed that give up central claims of enlightenment epistemology such empirical support, cognitive accessibility or rational justifiability.
In this book Gerhard Schurz develops a new account of foundation-theoretic epistemology based on the method of optimality justifications. Optimality justifications offer a solution to the regress problem. Rather than striving for a priori demonstrations of reliability, which are impossible, they show
that certain epistemic methods are optimal in regard to all accessible alternatives, which is more modestly but provably possible. In particular,  optimality
justifications can achieve a non-circular justification of deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning.   All in all this book pursues two goals: a general renewal of foundation-theoretic epistemology based on the account of optimality justifications, and the advancement of methods of optimality justification in important domains of epistemology and philosophy of science, logic and cognition. Connected with these two goals is the aspiration of this book to develop new ideas for mainstream epistemology as well as for formal epistemology, philosophy of science and cognitive science, intended to attract researchers, students and all other readers interested in these fields. 

Published in 2024

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Michel Ghins: 

Scientific Realism and Laws of Nature: 

A Metaphysics of Causal Powers

This book addresses central issues in the philosophy and metaphysics of science, namely
the nature of scientific theories, their partial truth, and the necessity of scientific laws within a moderate realist and empiricist perspective. Accordingly, good arguments in favour of the existence of unobservable entities postulated by our best theories, such as electrons, must be inductively grounded on perceptual experience and not their explanatory power as most defenders of scientific realism claim. Similarly, belief in the reality of dispositions such as causal powers which ground the natural necessity of scientific laws must be based on experience. Hence, this book offers a synthetic presentation of an original metaphysics of science, namely a metaphysics of properties, both categorical and dispositional, while at the same time opposing strong versions of necessitarism according to which laws are true in all possible worlds.
The main theses and arguments are clearly presented in a non-technical way. Thus, on top of being of interest to the specialists of the topics discussed, it is also useful as a textbook in courses for third year and more advanced university students.

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Published in 2024.

Reinhard Kahle, Giovanni, Sommaruga - 
Paul Bernays

Paul Bernays (1888–1977) belonged to a well-known German-Jewish family, tracing back to the Hamburg Chief Rabbi Isaak Bernays (1792–1848). As a collaborator of David Hilbert, one of the most significant mathematicians of his time, he made fundamental contributions to mathematical logic. Possessing Swiss citizenship, he found refuge in Zurich after his dismissal in Göttingen in 1933. This volume traces Bernays’ life, which was influenced not only by mathematics and logic but also by music and philosophy. His scientific career exemplifies the complexities of the 20th century. However, the modesty, kindness, and humanity of Paul Bernays stand in stark contrast to his times.

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Published in 2023