The texts available here are all on the subject of the History and Philosophy of Science. They include essays on Galileo and his work, on concepts used throughout the philosophy of science and on famous problems such as the demarcation between science and non-science. We also include several e-texts of important works in the discipline.
Latest Academy Discussions
(A short introduction I wrote a few years ago...)
The debate over adaptation is an interesting one. The standard story due to Darwin is that…
A key issue for philosophers of biology is the notion of evolutionary progress: can we say that progress has taken place as a result of…I just imagined to be Sophie, who is 14 yrs old, but is able to absorb philosophical digest. I am now puzzled by a subject…How might one argue for “intelligent design,” in a way that is not disingenuous and outright dishonest, which seems to be the currency of the…First is the object. In semiosis the object is independent of anything else, and can be seen as a semiotic thing-in-itself. Study of the object…I really recommend this book to all the people here interested in the history of science: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/History-Practice-Ancient-Astronomy/dp/0195095391/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s;=books&qid;=1222139515&sr;=1-1"]Amazon.com: The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy: James…When we make inferences about the past, we have to determine warrant for those inferences if we are to make epistemically-sound inferences.
A common criticism…What is science?
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." - Richard Feynman
I begin my approach by noting some facts about science…Originally Posted by tomh [INDENT]I don't have a dog in this hunt, but figured that some of you might find this interesting.
[/INDENT]
Geoff:…What drives science? Is it primarily curiosity?
The history of science might say that two other things are more important: 1. military application and 2.… The Manuscripts
The trial and resulting abjuration of Galileo before the Holy Congregation of the Catholic Church at the convent of Minerva on the 22nd of June,…Non-Intellectual Contexts
From his time as a student (Drake, 2001: 17), Galileo had been known as someone who willingly opposed orthodoxy. Even so, the social…Intellectual Contexts
Galileo's work and the criticism it faced were not just rhetoric, politics and patronage. In this second section we shall look at Galileo's…The Trial and its Development
Urban VIII and Politics
The reception of the Dialogue among Galileo's friends was enthusiastic (XIV, 357), as could have been…Consequences
So it was that the trial and its inevitable result established what had already been determined in 1616 by Bellarmine's blinkered approach, wherein he…As explained in the extended essay, the Galileo Affair is well known for giving rise to mythical interpretations. Although the reading that portrays Galileo…The so-called Galileo Affair occurred within a variety of contexts, some – like the invention of the telescope – recent and some with an…Ockham’s Razor, otherwise called the principle of the economy of thought, is invoked often in debate, usually to discount one or more theories on the…In this short essay I discuss the various forms of falsificationism, particularly insofar as it functions as a proposed answer to the demarcation problem;…According to one understanding of the so-called Galileo Affair, the old system of geocentrism was challenged by the new observations made possible by Galileo’s…Suppose we have an idea about world and put it to the test. Our discussion of falsificationism looked at what we can conclude from…A familiar sight in the philosophy of science is reference to the underdetermination of theories by the available evidence. In this short paper we will…Arguments for proliferation as a methodological principle are often associated with the philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend (1999) but they date back at least to…Perhaps one of the least understood arguments in the philosophy of science, Paul Feyerabend's reductio ad absurdum of specific rationalist conceptions of scientific method is…According to lore, Imre Lakatos was an excellent speaker and a highly amusing one. (He would often listen in on Paul Feyerabend's talks from…My Very Reverend Father,
I have gladly read the letter in Italian and the treatise which Your Reverence sent me, and I thank you for…To the Most Serene Grand Duchess Mother:
Some years ago, as Your Serene Highness well knows, I discovered in the heavens many things that had…Practitioners of a strange trade, friends, enemies, ladies and gentlemen: Before starting with my talk, let me explain to you how it came into existence.…The idea that science can, and should, be run according to fixed and universal rules, is both unrealistic and pernicious. It is unrealistic, for it…While the existence of presuppositions in cannot be denied - indeed, some of their aspects have been central preoccupations of philosophers for more than three…
Questions about the design?