TY - JOUR
T1 - The Omniscienter
T2 - Beauty and scientific understanding
AU - Kosso, Peter
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Science has more to offer than just knowledge of nature; it can give us understanding of nature as well. Epistemology of science is usually focused on knowledge and the criteria of justification, while paying little attention to understanding. In a reversal of this emphasis, this article is more about scientific understanding. I argue that the hallmarks of understanding are similar to an aesthetic feature associated with literature, music, and the visual arts. It is the feature described as coherence, harmony, and inevitability of fit. Aesthetics thus plays an epistemic role in science as an indication of understanding.
AB - Science has more to offer than just knowledge of nature; it can give us understanding of nature as well. Epistemology of science is usually focused on knowledge and the criteria of justification, while paying little attention to understanding. In a reversal of this emphasis, this article is more about scientific understanding. I argue that the hallmarks of understanding are similar to an aesthetic feature associated with literature, music, and the visual arts. It is the feature described as coherence, harmony, and inevitability of fit. Aesthetics thus plays an epistemic role in science as an indication of understanding.
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U2 - 10.1080/02698590120118819
DO - 10.1080/02698590120118819
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:12744265902
SN - 0269-8595
VL - 16
SP - 39
EP - 48
JO - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science
JF - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science
IS - 1
ER -