This volume is based on papers presented at the XV Internordic Philosophical Symposium in Helsinki in May, 2004. It covers a number of important and timely philosophical issues: naturalism – its strengths, weaknesses, and limits – in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of science; the relation between philosophical and scientific methodology; the ethics of science and, more generally, the place of science in society; the relation between the natural sciences and the humanities; as well as the ways in which scientific progress may challenge traditional philosophical concepts and problems and, on the other hand, the ways in which philosophical arguments and/or artistic innovations – or philosophical interpretations of them – may challenge some claims made in the name of science. In addition to several Scandinavian authors, a number of leading philosophers from outside the Nordic countries are among the contributors to this volume. This collection of original articles thus contributes to the current lively philosophical debates on the relations between science, philosophy, and society.

The Editors: Heikki J. Koskinen, Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki, 2004, is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Academy of Finland. Sami Pihlström, Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki, 1996, is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tampere and Docent of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Helsinki. Risto Vilkko, Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki, 2000, is Docent of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Helsinki.