History

Dr. Mehdi Golshani founded the Department of Philosophy of Science at Sharif University of Technology in 1995. The main objectives behind the establishment of this department were to reveal the overlooked relationships between science and philosophy and to foster an intelligent interaction between science and religion. In this way, the Department of Philosophy of Science at Sharif University of Technology became the first academic unit in Iran established with the aim of examining the relationship between science, religion, and philosophy — even though major technological universities around the world had created similar departments decades earlier.
This department has regularly offered master’s programs annually, and many of its graduates have contributed to the creation or development of similar philosophical departments across the country. The Philosophy of Science group at Amirkabir University and the Analytical Philosophy Research Institute at the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) are among these. Furthermore, since 2007, the department has launched PhD programs in Philosophy of Science and Technology, which have continued in an organized manner.
In accordance with its objectives, the Department of Philosophy of Science at Sharif University of Technology engages in teaching and research not only in philosophy of science but also in other areas such as metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of technology, philosophy of religion, science and religion, philosophy of physics, philosophy of mind, and related fields.
 

Philosophy of Science

A set of rational reflections on the empirical sciences constitutes the field of “philosophy of science.” These reflections encompass the semantics, epistemology, and metaphysics of the empirical sciences. In other words, philosophy of science seeks, first, to clarify the precise meaning of scientific propositions; second, to evaluate the epistemic claims of the empirical sciences — that is, to answer the question: “How can we regard the results of the empirical sciences as part of genuine human knowledge?” The third task of philosophy of science is to examine the metaphysical foundations and implications of scientific propositions. The claims of the empirical sciences necessarily require a metaphysical structure, and scientists, inevitably, present the results of their research within metaphysical frameworks. It is the responsibility of philosophy of science to uncover and evaluate these metaphysical foundations. Moreover, scientific claims sometimes lead to metaphysical consequences, raising philosophical issues that can only be resolved through collaboration between science and metaphysics. Thus, theoretical rationality demands a two-way interaction between science and philosophy.
On the other hand, in the modern era, science and technology, when detached from ethics and religion, have demonstrated their harmful effects, and the limitations of science in securing human happiness have become evident. Meanwhile, certain scientific claims — such as those concerning the origin of the universe and life — intersect with religious claims, and as a result, some scholars of modern sciences in various fields of physics, biology, and social sciences have raised objections against religion. Furthermore, technology derived from science has influenced various aspects of human life, giving rise to new ethical questions. Consequently, both practical and theoretical rationality require interaction between science, religion, and philosophy.
In recent decades, religious scholars on one side and scientists and philosophers on the other have recognized this essential need for interaction, and today, fruitful discussions among these three groups are taking place in universities and academic institutions worldwide. The most prominent institutes of science and technology in the world house specialized faculties dedicated to the study of the relationships among science, technology, religion, and philosophy. Departments and faculties of philosophy at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Virginia Tech, Stanford University, Oxford, Cambridge, and the University of Leeds are examples of these academic centers. This reflects the significance of philosophical and religious discussions and their impact on the future direction of science and technology globally.