Dr. Karim Bschir’s research focuses on topics in the general philosophy of science with strong bearings upon the role and responsibility of science in society. Many of his contributions are inspired by the works of Paul Feyerabend. He has written about the relationship between Feyerabend’s pluralism and Karl Popper’s critical rationalism and is co-editor of a collected volume on Feyerabend for Cambridge University Press. One central topic in Karim Bschir’s research are science-based predictions and the uncertainty related to science-based forecasts. Understanding the limits of scientific prediction is crucial in dealing with complex problems. Accordingly, the way in which predictive uncertainties are dealt with and communicated is a matter of great public concern. In his project, Karim investigates the epistemic and practical importance of predictive practices in modern science. The project has two main parts. The first part is historical and provides an overview of episodes in the history of science, during which debates about predictions emerged within the scientific community. In the second part, philosophical issues related to prediction are explored such as the relationship between explanation and prediction as well as the debate on predictivism, and the role of novel predictions in arguments for scientific realism. The philosophical considerations are complemented with examples of predictive practices in current science and a discussion of some of the issues that arise in this context (e.g. epistemological problems related to the limited predictive capacity of non-linear dynamical models, prediction in the context of Big Data, or the problem of decision-making under predictive uncertainty.)
