Faculty of Arts and Philosophy

Challenges

There is a growing consensus that the biodiversity crisis demands action and a response. However, if we do not understand what we mean by this crisis – in other words, our understanding of biodiversity itself – it will be much more difficult to mobilise people and resources effectively to overcome it.

The philosophy of science aims to clarify concepts: our work begins where scientists’ work ends. We try to understand the meaning that the different groups involved attribute to concepts such as ‘biodiversity’, ‘endangered species’ or even ‘the theory of evolution’.

What are the conceptual pitfalls that underpin these ideas? Which concepts are too confusing for scientists or the general public to understand? One of the objectives of this research is to provide guidance and support to teachers who teach evolution in secondary schools.

UCLouvain’s contribution

This research is situated at the interface between biology and philosophy. Hopefully it will have an impact on biologists at UCLouvain and elsewhere, as it formalises the way in which biological knowledge is built and identifies the epistemological biases in it.

It also has an impact on philosophers, who are invited to the laboratories where this knowledge is built, which is what we are doing here with our colleagues in Louvain-la-Neuve.

Finally, it has a societal impact, as it teaches the general public about the nature of theories and explanations in biology.