Coordination Funds

研究单位的总体目的是阐明和阐述对形而上学的性质和方法论的新理解。借用19世纪末哲学中的一个术语，由此产生的形而上学概念被称为归纳形而上学。我们认为，一般而言，形而上学的信仰不应该也不能仅仅基于概念和先验的基础上得到充分的辩护。经验来源和推理的归纳或溯因形式应该而且事实上确实在形而上学中扮演着比通常所承认的要突出得多的角色。除了形而上学的概念和理论是跨学科的，比起科学中的概念和理论，形而上学的概念和理论是跨学科的，与科学中的概念和理论相比，形而上学的概念和理论是跨学科的，而且比科学中的概念和理论更普遍，这一点应该是后验的，基于经验数据的归纳或溯因推理，嵌入到类似于科学的方法论中，应该证明形而上学信仰的重要部分是正当的。该研究单位旨在对归纳形而上学的方法论和经验来源进行系统的阐述。实现这一目标的一个基本手段是将方法学项目或A级项目与面向应用程序的B级项目结合起来。B级项目涉及选定的形而上学问题；它们是对形而上学研究的原创性贡献，同时也是A级项目的测试用例。A项目涉及归纳形而上学的历史和方法论研究；它们使用B项目的结果作为其输入，并将方法论问题和结果提供给B项目作为其输出。第一个三年期的所有三个A级项目应在第二个时期继续进行，主题应是对第一个时期的工作成果和未解决问题的自然后续行动。所有第一阶段的B项目都被新的B项目所取代，其中一些项目与第一阶段的前身项目有重要联系，另一些项目则将全新的主题领域带入归纳形而上学的应用范围。

The overall purpose of the research unit is to articulate and elaborate a new understanding of the nature and methodology of metaphysics. Borrowing a term from late 19th century philosophy, the resulting conception of metaphysics is called Inductive Metaphysics. We argue that, in general, metaphysical beliefs should not and cannot be adequately justified solely on a conceptual and a priori basis. Empirical sources and inductive or abductive forms of inference should and in fact do play a much more prominent role in metaphysics than is typically acknowledged. An important share of metaphysical beliefs should be justified a posteriori, based on inductive or abductive inferences from empirical data, embedded in a methodology that resembles that of science, except that metaphysical concepts and theories are transdisciplinary and more general than concepts and theories in science. The research unit aims at developing a systematic account of the methodology and the empirical sources of Inductive Metaphysics. An essential means for achieving this aim is a combination of methodological or A-projects and application-oriented or B-projects. B-projects deal with selected metaphysical issues; they are original contributions to metaphysical research and at the same time they serve as test cases for A-projects. A-projects are concerned with historical and methodological investigations of Inductive Metaphysics; they use the results of B-projects as their input and deliver methodological questions and results to B-projects as their output. All three A-projects of the first three-year period shall be continued in the second period, with themes that are natural follow-ups of the results and open problems that emerged from the work in the first period. All B-projects of the first period are replaced by new B-projects, some of which bear important connections to predecessor projects in the first period and others which bring entirely new thematic areas into the range of application of Inductive Metaphysics.