Reasoning and inference are not the same, argues Paul Thagard. Reasoning is slow, deliberate, and social, where as inference is fast, automatic, and individual. | Center for Advanced Studies LMU: 06.07.2016 | Speaker: Prof. Paul Thagard, Ph.D. | Moderation: Prof. Clark Chinn, Ph.D.

Whether in hospital, in economic consulting or in the design of learning environments, the people involved must constantly make decisions that have a considerable impact on the individual, institutional or social level of interaction. The concept of "evidence based practice" builds upon the notion that important decisions should not be made exclusively on the basis of personal experience and subjective assessments or needs. The best scientific evidence currently available should be considered. Julian Reiss is professor of Philosophy at Durham University.

Whether in hospital, in economic consulting or in the design of learning environments, the people involved must constantly make decisions that have a considerable impact on the individual, institutional or social level of interaction. The concept of "evidence based practice" builds upon the notion that important decisions should not be made exclusively on the basis of personal experience and subjective assessments or needs. The best scientific evidence currently available should be considered. | Oriana Bandiera is professor for Economics at the LSE and holds the Anthony Atkinson Chair in Economics.

Whether in hospital, in economic consulting or in the design of learning environments, the people involved must constantly make decisions that have a considerable impact on the individual, institutional or social level of interaction. The concept of "evidence based practice" builds upon the notion that important decisions should not be made exclusively on the basis of personal experience and subjective assessments or needs. The best scientific evidence currently available should be considered. |Martin W. Bauer is professor of Social Psychology and Science Methodology at the LSE.

Whether in hospital, in economic consulting or in the design of learning environments, the people involved must constantly make decisions that have a considerable impact on the individual, institutional or social level of interaction. The concept of "evidence based practice" builds upon the notion that important decisions should not be made exclusively on the basis of personal experience and subjective assessments or needs. The best scientific evidence currently available should be considered. | Rainer Bromme is Senior Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Münster and Visiting Fellow at CAS.

Ob im Krankenhaus, in der Wirtschaftsberatung oder in der pädagogischen Ausbildung: Stets müssen die beteiligten Akteure Entscheidungen treffen, die große Auswirkungen auf der individuellen, der institutionellen oder der gesellschaftlichen Ebene haben. Das Konzept der "Evidenz-basierten Praxis" fußt auf der Überlegung, dass wichtige Entscheidungen nicht allein aufgrund persönlicher Erfahrung und subjektiver Einschätzungen oder Bedürfnissen getroffen werden sollten. Der Stand der aktuell besten verfügbaren wissenschaftlichen Evidenz sollte ebenso berücksichtigt werden. Während im Bereich der Medizin dieser Ansatz bereits seit ca. 15 Jahren angewendet wird – und unterdessen auch Kritik erfährt –, sind andere Bereiche, wie etwa die Pädagogik oder die Wirtschaftswissenschaften gerade dabei, die Potentiale dieses Konzepts auszuloten. | Gerd Antes ist Co-Direktor von Cochrane Deutschland, mit Sitz am Universitätsklinikum Freiburg.

Corruption among Japanese Sumo wrestlers, the relation between having a TV and fertility rates in India and the analysis of drug dealing gangs in Chicago – these are all topics for which one needs a second look to identify them as microeconomic questions which can be analyzed with the help of data. These are only but a few of everyday situations which Steven D. Levitt and the journalist Stephen J. Dubner illustrate in the books of the bestselling Freakonomics series. In his lecture Steven Levitt will lay out how data and (micro)economic reasoning can interact in order to analyze patterns that occur in everyday life or suggest (simple) solutions to (seemingly complex) problems. | Steven D. Levitt is Professor for economy at the University of Chicago and currently Visiting Fellow at CAS.

This talk will begin by examining what passes for any education in the sciences across most of the globe, and the justifications that are offered for its place at the curriculum high table. The dominant argument for science education is economic seeing it as essential to providing an educated workforce to meet the technological and scientific needs of contemporary society. An additional but distinct case is the argument that there is a need to develop the scientific and technical knowledge that students will need to deal with the political and moral dilemmas posed by the 5 major challenges facing humanity – the supply of energy, growing sufficient food, providing clean water, sustaining health and dealing with climate change. In this talk, it will be argued that both arguments are flawed. The first, for instance, does not justify teaching the sciences to all students, and the second would demand a very different practice and curriculum than that which is commonly offered. Rather, the case will be developed that the only valid argument for teaching the sciences to all students is one based on their cultural significance – essentially a body of knowledge and understanding that represents one of the major intellectual achievement of humanity and part of the best that is worth knowing. Moreover, this achievement has led to the development of 6 distinct styles of reasoning which are a defining feature of the sciences. Each of these styles of reasoning or argument has required the invention of a set of domain-specific, ontological entities to think with, a body of procedural knowledge to use for the practice of the sciences, and a set of epistemic values and commitments that justify the products of scientific reasoning. It will be shown how styles of reasoning provide a sound basis of an argument for the cultural contribution that the sciences have made and one which would justify the value of an education in the sciences for all students. | Center for Advanced Studies LMU: 07.03.2016 | Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Osborne, Ph.D. | Moderation: Prof. Dr. Frank Fischer