Robert Nola (born 1940) is a New Zealand philosophy academic, and as of 2021 is an emeritus professor at the University of Auckland.
His work has focussed on the philosophy and history of science, on epistemology and on metaphysics.
Early life
Nola's mother was New Zealand-born and his father was an immigrant from Dalmatia in Croatia.
His family were nominally Catholic, his mother becoming a Catholic to marry his father.
Nola attended a state school, rather than a Catholic school.
He studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Auckland.
Academic career
After a 1968 PhD titled Theoretical change in the physical sciences: a study of theory reduction and theory replacement in science at the Australian National University, Nola moved to the University of Auckland, rising to full professor.
Nola was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2009 and is a Fellow of the New Zealand Academy of the Humanities.
Conflict
In July 2021, in the context of a review of the NCEA (New Zealand's National Curriculum), Nola, along with six other University of Auckland Professors and Emeritus Professors published a letter "In Defence of Science" in the New Zealand Listener,Kendall Clements, Garth Cooper, Michael Corballis, Douglas Elliffe, Robert Nola, Elizabeth Rata, and John Werry.
“In Defence of Science.”
New Zealand Listener, 31 July 2021.
p.4 which drew considerable fire claiming indigenous knowledge (or Mātauranga Māori) "falls far short of what can be defined as science itself."
Auckland vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater said the letter "caused considerable hurt and dismay among our staff, students and alumni" and that "Mātauranga Māori as a valuable knowledge system, and that it was not at odds with Western empirical science and did not need to compete."
The TEU, the union which represents academics such as the professors, released a statement saying they "neglected to engage with or mention the many highly accomplished scholars and scientists in Aotearoa who have sought to reconcile notions of science, mātauranga Māori, and Māori in science."
The Royal Society of New Zealand released a statement saying "The Society strongly upholds the value of mātauranga Māori and rejects the narrow and outmoded definition of science outlined in [the letter]."
The New Zealand Association of Scientists released a statement saying "we were dismayed to see a number of prominent academics publicly questioning the value of mātauranga to science."
The letter writters were supported by opposition MP Paul Goldsmith.
Daniel Hikuroa, also an academic at Auckland, pointed out that Mātauranga Māori like Māramataka (the Māori lunar calendar) "was clearly science."
An open counter-letter received more than 2000 signatures.
The Academic Advisory Council of the New Zealand Free Speech Union defended the letter authors' academic freedom and condemned the response, stating "Whereas the letter to The Listener comprised only a reasoned argument – whether or not it is deemed valid and sound – some critics have resorted to ad hominem attacks on the authors, in particular accusing them – both directly and by implication – of racism.
We encourage critics to engage in a constructive, evidence-based way, rather than making allegations that seem intended to damage reputations or careers."
Selected works
Nola, Robert (1988).
Relativism and Realism in Science.
Springer.
Nola, Robert (1998).
Foucault.
F. Cass.
Nola, Robert, and Howard Sankey (2000).
After Popper, Kuhn, and Feyerabend: Recent Issues in Theories of Scientific Method.
Springer.
Nola, Robert (2003).
Rescuing Reason: A Critique of Anti-rationalist Views of Science and Knowledge.
Kluwer.
Nola, Robert, and Gürol Irzik (2006).
Philosophy, Science, Education and Culture.
Vol. 28. Springer Science & Business Media.
David Braddon-Mitchell, Robert Nola (2008).
"Introducing the Canberra Plan".
In Conceptual Analysis and Philosophical Naturalism.
MIT Press.
Irzik, Gürol, and Robert Nola (2011).
"A family resemblance approach to the nature of science for science education".
Science & Education 20, no. 7: 591-607.
Nola, Robert, and Howard Sankey (2014).
Theories of Scientific Method: An Introduction.
Routledge.
Irzik, Gürol, and Robert Nola (2014).
"New directions for nature of science research".
In International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching, pp.
999–1021.
Dordrecht: Springer.
Nola, R. (2018).
Demystifying Religious Belief.
In H. van Eyghen, R. Peels, G. van den Brink (Eds.)
New Developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion: The Rationality of Religious Belief (pp. 71-92).
Heidelberg: Springer.
Nola, R. (2019).
Definition: Atheism.
In J. Koterski, G. Oppy (Eds.)
Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy (pp. 19-34).
Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference USA.
References
