CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND POLITICS REGARDING CLIMATE CHANGE,

The socioenvironmental framework that characterizes contemporary societies shows that human impact on the environment is causing increasingly complex changes both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Therefore, while highlighting the complexity of the events and the need of dialogue among science, managers and society, it emphasizes the prevalence of an instrumental cognitive rationality, which generally disregards the interdisciplinary dimension of problems affecting and maintaining life in our planet. The main objective of this work is to analyze factors affecting the connection between science and politics and to overcome those obstacles, emphasizing triggering and mobilizing factors.

The legacy of Raymond Boudon

The paper is a short overview of the work of a contemporary French sociologist Raymond Boudon. The paper focuses on the following aspects of Boudon?s biography: academic trajectory, intellectual influences, and his major works. It is argued that his major contributions to sociology include his theory of social mobility, methodological individualism and the concept of cognitive rationality.

Rethinking Boudon’s Cognitive Rationality in the Light of Mises’ Apriorism and Gadamer’s Hermeneutics

The purpose of this article is to show that Boudon’s explanation of action in terms of “good reasons” can be philosophically enriched by merging his methodological perspective with Mises’ praxeology and Gadamer’s hermeneutics. In order to develop our goal of merging Boudon’s approach with Mises’ and Gadamer’s, we will focus on two points. The first is the identification of the invariable structure of human action. Unlike Boudon, we suggest that the best way to establish this invariable structure, which makes the explanation of action possible, is not to refer to the controversial concept of “human nature,” but rather to use Mises’ praxeological analysis of the invariable logic which all actions have in common. The second point analyzed in this article is the temporal and cultural dimension of the interpretative process which individuals elaborate to develop their reasons. This point, which is related to hermeneutical philosophy and is not investigated in detail by Boudon, is largely discussed by Gadamer. In our opinion, merging Gadamer’s description of the interpretative process – a process that Gadamer calls “hermeneutical circle” – and Boudon’s sociology of “good reasons” is useful because, unlike Boudon, Gadamer clarifies the epistemological nature of the interpretative process as well as the reasons why this process – which is a trial and error process – allows us to understand the actions of people who belong to different cultures.

Tra finzione e realtŕ. Contro l'approccio bayesiano al metodo scientifico

The development of the Bayesian approach to the scientific method represents one of the most suggestive and controversial orientations in modern epistemology. Starting from the assumption that, normally, humans think and operate in uncertain conditions, the Bayesian interpretation aims to identify - on the basis on an appropriate probability of the uncertain - the principles that govern cognitive rationality, practical rationality and the relationship between the two. Though this area of epistemological considerations is particularly rich in intertwined background and foreground components, this contribution will provide the necessary elements to critically understand an approach that is seemingly far from any kind of "rule of correspondence" with empirical reality.