Philosophy of Science and Historical Enquiry.

Abstract

Philosophers have never been reluctant to analyse methodological problems which arise from the practice of other disciplines. The results of these analyses become provinces within philosophy, each being a second-order commentary on a first-order subject. Philosophy of science and history of science are both interpretations of scientific practice. This book is concerned with the nature of the relationship between these two disciplines. There are various possibilities. Philosophy of science and history of science may be mutually exclusive, interdependent, or related by inclusion. Much depends on whether philosophy of science is taken to be a prescriptive or a descriptive discipline. There has been a venerable tradition of prescriptive philosophy of science, but recently a few investigators have pursued a descriptive alternative. Descriptive philosophy of science is the more modest alternative. Its practitioners nevertheless have made important contributions to our understanding of those activities that comprise science.