Abstract
An important question facing contemporary philosophy of science is whether the natural sciences in terms of their historical records exhibit distinguishing developmental patterns or structures. At least two philosophical stances are possible in answering this question. The first pertains to the plurality of the individual sciences. From this stance, the various sciences are analyzed individually and compared with one another in order to derive potential commonalities, if any, among them. The second stance involves a general philosophy of science in which a thorough theory of the natural sciences is developed. The latter stance strives to account for more than possible commonalities among the sciences but also to provide a broad-spectrum philosophical framework to account for, or to explicate, the nature of science itself and its progress. In this paper, the second stance is taken in which an evolutionary philosophy of science is proposed. To that end, Thomas Kuhn’s evolutionary philosophy of science is initially discussed and critiqued. An evolutionary philosophy of science is then proposed based on a revision of Kuhn’s evolutionary philosophy of science in terms of George Gaylord Simpson’s various tempos and modes for biological evolution. Next, two historical case studies from the biological sciences are reconstructed to illustrate the robustness of the proposed evolutionary philosophy of science for explicating the progress of the natural sciences. A concluding section discusses the proposed evolutionary philosophy of science with respect to providing a broad-spectrum framework or general philosophy of science for understanding the nature and progress of the natural sciences.
Highlights
In this special issue of Philosophies, a very critical question is asked
Two historical case studies from the biological sciences are reconstructed to illustrate the robustness of the proposed evolutionary philosophy of science for explicating the progress of the natural sciences
The second is a general philosophy of science (GPoS) stance in which an extensive theory of the natural sciences is developed [2,3]
Summary
In this special issue of Philosophies, a very critical question is asked. Do the natural sciences with respect to their historical records exhibit distinguishing developmental or progressive patterns or structures? This is an important question and can potentially be answered in terms of the sciences’. The second is a general philosophy of science (GPoS) stance in which an extensive theory of the natural sciences is developed [2,3]. The latter stance attempts to account for more than possible commonalities among the sciences and to provide a wide-ranging philosophical platform to account for, or to explicate, science’s nature and its progress. The second stance is taken in which an evolutionary philosophy of science (EPoS) is proposed. The proposed EPoS represents a stance in terms of GPoS that incorporates the current pluralism of contemporary philosophy of science or PPoS. In the paper’s concluding section, the proposed EPoS is discussed with respect to providing a broad-spectrum framework or GPoS for fathoming the nature of the natural sciences and their progress
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
