€4 Million Grant for Philosophical Research on the Credibility of Science

Created
Wed, 18/01/2023 - 21:00
Updated
Wed, 18/01/2023 - 21:00
A project led by philosophers Mathias Frisch and Torsten Wilholt (Institut für Philosophie at Leibniz Universität Hannover) on science and trust has received a 4,020,000 million euro grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project, “Social Credibility and Trustworthiness of Expert Knowledge and Science-Based Information” (SOCRATES), “aims to investigate the philosophical preconditions that are relevant to trust in knowledge and scientific credibility in general [and the] processes through which scientific expertise can be undermined,” according to an announcement from the DFG. A press release from Leibniz Universität Hannover, where the project will be based, says: SOCRATES intends to tackle the challenge of understanding how science can continue to serve as a source of shared knowledge that not only enjoys trust but actually earns it. The group will investigate philosophical requirements relevant for trust in science. As a forum for exchange between researchers from philosophy, sociology, communication and media studies as well as other disciplines, SOCRATES aims to provide a comprehensive and coherent philosophical approach to scientific credibility and trust in science. The grant, which will support the project for four years, will in part be used to fund senior and postdoctoral fellowships, among other things.