Aesthetic Values and the Social Dimensions of Science

• Applicant: Alice Murphy, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Theoretical Philosophy
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 534743014

Current views on aesthetics in science overlook a crucial issue: science is a social activity, involving collective research, and the communication of results and methodologies to other scientists and to the public. This project will be the first to consider the role of the aesthetic within the social dimensions of scientific inquiry and knowledge production. This is a currently unexplored area yet understanding how the aesthetic functions epistemically within a social context is crucial for capturing the myriad ways in which aesthetic values shape scientific practice. The overarching aim of this project is to investigate the role of aesthetics in science with an emphasis on the social dimensions of scientific practice. In doing so, I aim to illustrate how key discussions from both social epistemology and the aesthetics of science can emerge in a new light, helping to advance our understanding of the significance of the aesthetic in science. My key objectives for this project are as follows: O1: To provide a deeper exploration of the connection between aesthetic values and the epistemic aims of science, including the purported tensions between aesthetics and objectivity O2: To develop a unified view of values as operating as “frames” in science and science communication via an analysis of hybrid ethically/aesthetically value-laden language in science O3: To show that the presence of aesthetic values complicates testimony-based acceptance in science, and that the success of aesthetic testimony in science is context-dependent O4: To provide the first account of how aesthetic preferences form at the group-level within science and how disagreement within and across groups can lead to the need for a new aesthetic culture O5: To explore how aesthetic values in science prompts both the collective scientific imagination, and the public’s imagination in the dissemination of scientific results O6: To bring together the imagination literature with insights from feminist epistemology and philosophy of science to develop an account of how marginalised communities can have epistemically privileged imaginings and thus contribute to the creativity of a scientific community.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants