Chiara Ambrosio (UCL): “Scientific Images as Pragmatist Experiments”
Thursday, 07 May 2026, 16:30-18:30
Senate House, Room 264
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What would a practice-first, integrated history and philosophy of scientific images look like? I propose that a fruitful way to address this question is by reconceptualising the making and uses of images in the sciences as experimental practices. My approach is grounded in pragmatist conceptions of the roles of experiment and experience in scientific inquiry. Despite being primarily known as philosophers, the pragmatists did not just theorise experiments: they actively carried them out – in the laboratory, as well as through images on paper. Starting from how some of them deployed images in their empirical studies and philosophical arguments, I propose that a capacious, pragmatist view of experimenting offers a new lens to revisit the conjectural and dynamic roles of images and image-making in scientific practice. I will apply this pragmatist framework to two cases of image-making in the biological and biochemical sciences, illustrating its potential to reconnect image-making to the broader array of practices of sense-making in the sciences.
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Following NHS guidance, all attendees are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated (including boosters) against Covid-19, unless medically exempt. Our group is diverse; please continue to be considerate of those who wear face coverings and those who don’t. Thank you.