Life Sciences for Philosophers and Philosophy for Life Scientists: What Should We Teach?

Following recent debate on the relations between philosophy of science and the sciences and, more specifically, Pradeau’s (2017) analysis of the dyscrasia between the life sciences and the philosophy of the life sciences, we wish to drawn attention to some actual ways of training both young philosophers of science and young life scientists and clinicians. First, we recall a successful case of training philosophers of the life sciences in a strictly scientific environment. Second, after a brief review of the reasons why life scientists and clinicians are currently asking for more ethics, more methodology of science and more philosophy of science in the training of life scientists and clinicians, we present two training models that could spur the discussion on how to accomplish the requests coming from the scientific community. We argue that in order to reflect on mutual relations between philosophy of science and the sciences and to foster proper interactions, issues regarding i) the topics considered, ii) the features of educational curricula, and iii) the institutional organizations should be addressed jointly.