Graham Hubbs (left) and Michael O’Rourke (right) on philosophical intervention.
The Toolbox Project, helmed by O’Rourke, applies philosophy to problems of cross-disciplinary cooperation among scientists. In this interview, Hubbs and O’Rourke discuss the goals and methods of the project, the stigma of applied philosophy, and the extent to which deep philosophical issues (e.g. in philosophy of language) are relevant in other disciplines.
Related works
Crowley, Eigenbrode, O’Rourke, and Wulfhorst, “Cross-disciplinary localization: a philosophical approach” (2010)
Eigenbrode, O’Rourke, et al., “Employing Philosophical Dialogue in Collaborative Science” (2007)
Hubbs, “Is There a Mechanism of Critical Reasoning?” (draft)
More video:
Dale Jamieson & Jay Odenbaugh (PTV)
David Christensen & Roy Sorensen (PTV)
could this tool be apply to different community groups? and or group in an organisation ?
We are working on developing modifications of the instrument for use with translational health science groups (spec., groups comprising bench researchers and clinical researchers) and translational climate science groups (spec., groups comprising scientists and natural resource managers). In its current form, it wouldn’t be a good fit for a community group or an organization that didn’t focus pretty squarely on research. We hope to move it in that direction, though.