Annotation: 1991001185 At first glance twentieth-century philosophy of science seems virtually to ignore chemistry. However this paper argues that a focus on chemistry helped shape the French philosphical reflections about the aims and foundations of scientific methods. Despite patent philosophical disagreements between Duhem, Meyerson, Metzger and Bachelard it is possible to identify the continuity of a tradition that is rooted in their common interest for chemistry. Two distinctive features o the French tradition originated in the attention to what was going on in chemistry. French philosophers of science, in stark contrast with analytic philosophers, considered history of science as the necessary basis for understanding how the human intellect or the scientific spirit tries to grasp the world. This constant reference to historical data was prompted by a fierce controversy about the chemical revolution, which brought the issue of the nature of scientific changes centre stage.


Source: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science : 39/4 (2005), s.627-648. - Res. angl. - Lit.73.
Source document: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Keywords: introspection
Publication type: Article

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