On Friday, February 8th, in Madrid, the book «¿Determinismo o indeterminismo?»  was presented. After receiving the Razón Abierta Award in 2017, it was reissued by the Francisco de Vitoria University.

The event started at 7:30 PM at Neblí bookstore in Madrid, Spain. Following welcoming remarks by Isaac Caselles, manager of UFV Editorial, and Max Bonilla, International Director of the Razón Abierta Institute, Claudia Vanney (editor), María Cerezo (author), and Carlos Blanco (author) engaged in a dialogue about the book’s content and the importance of interdisciplinarity.

As Claudia Vanney argues, open reason is the exercise of rationality that is not limited to a single methodology. Each science has its own methodology, and one can become trapped in exercising rationality in only one way. However, the human person has the possibility of exercising rationality in multiple ways, so open reason is the ability to exercise one’s own reason through various paths. The need for interdisciplinary dialogue demonstrates that we can all learn from each other, and that our perspectives are enriched when we have contributions from different disciplinary approaches. That’s why «an attitude of openness to learn from others is essential,» as María Cerezo contends. Carlos Blanco, on his part, emphasized that the university should be specialized but without losing the «means to engage in dialogue with other disciplines» and thanked Vanney for being «the architect of this great challenge of interdisciplinarity.»

This book was the product of a three-year research project carried out by the Institute of Philosophy, and it is the result of the joint efforts of physicists, biologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers who studied the topic of determinism with an interdisciplinary perspective. Like all interdisciplinary work, it had its significant challenges because each discipline has its own vocabulary and language. Understanding each other is a task that takes time. Therefore, the book is actually the outcome of years of collaborative work. Over 150 researchers from 11 countries and 45 universities participated in this project, and the result of all this work and interdisciplinary dialogue is what is captured in the award-winning book.