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Thomas Kuhn's 'Linguistic Turn' and the Legacy of Logical Empiricism
Presenting a critical history of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century, focusing on the transition from logical positivism in its first half to the \"new philosophy of science\" in its second, Stefano Gattei examines the influence of several key figures, but the main focus of the book are Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper. Kuhn as the central figure of the new philosophy of science, and Popper as a key philosopher of the time who stands outside both traditions. Gattei makes two important claims about the development of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century; that Kuhn is much closer to positivism than many have supposed, failing to solve the crisis of neopostivism, and that Popper, in responding to the deeper crisis of foundationalism that spans the whole of the Western philosophical tradition, ultimately shows what is untenable in Kuhn's view. Gattei has written a very detailed and fine grained, yet accessible discussion making exceptionally interesting use of archive materials.
Stefano Gattei researches the history and philosophy of science at the University of Pisa. He is the author of several books and articles, including La rivoluzione incompiuta di Thomas Kuhn (Turin: UTET, 2007), Introduzione a Popper (Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2008) and Karl Popper's Philosophy of Science: Rationality without Foundations (Routledge, New York). He is currently working on a reader's guide to Popper's The Logic of Scientific Discovery for Continuum Press, New York, and, together with Joseph Agassi, he is editing Physics and Philosophy, the fourth volume of Feyerabend's philosophical papers for Cambridge University Press. He also has in preparation an annotated critical edition of Kepler's Strena seu De nive sexangula (1611).
Contents: Preface; Two revolutions in 20th century philosophy of science; Kuhn and the 'new philosophy of science'; Incommensurability; Kuhn's 'linguistic turn'; The shadow of positivism; Bibliography; Index.
eBook
Minimal Verificationism
Verificationism has been a hallmark of logical empiricism. According to this principle, a sentence is insignificant in a certain sense if its truth value cannot be determined. Although logical empiricists strove for decades to develop an adequate principle of verification, they failed to resolve its problems. This led to a general abandonment of the verificationist project in the early 1960s. In the last 50 years, this view has received tremendously bad press. Today it is mostly regarded as an outdated historical concept. Theories that have evolved since the abandonment of verificationism can, however, help overcome some of its key problems. More specifically, an adequate criterion of significance can be derived from a combination of modern theories of justification and belief revision, along with a formal semantics for counterfactuals. In view of these potential improvements, the abandonment of verificationism appears premature. Half a century following its decline, it might be about time to revisit this disreputable view. The author argues in favor of a weak form of verificationism. This approach could be referred to as minimal verificationism, as it involves a weakening of traditional verificationist principles in various respects while maintaining their core idea.
eBook
Exact thinking in demented times : the Vienna Circle and the epic quest for the foundations of science
The philosophy of science between the two world wars, 1920s-1930s.
Book
Logical Empiricism in North America
This latest volume in the longest-standing and most influential series in the field of the philosophy of science expands on the discipline’s recent turn. These essays take up the historical, sociological, and philosophical questions surrounding the movement of logical empiricism. Contributors: Richard Creath, Michael Friedman, Rudolf Haller, Don Howard, Diederick Raven, George Reisch. Thomas Ricketts, Friedrich K. Stadler, Thomas E. Uebel.
eBook
What theoretical equivalence could not be
Formal criteria of theoretical equivalence are mathematical mappings between specific sorts of mathematical objects, notably including those objects used in mathematical physics. Proponents of formal criteria claim that results involving these criteria have implications that extend beyond pure mathematics. For instance, they claim that formal criteria bear on the project of using our best mathematical physics as a guide to what the world is like, and also have deflationary implications for various debates in the metaphysics of physics. In this paper, I investigate whether there is a defensible view according to which formal criteria have significant non-mathematical implications, of these sorts or any other, reaching a chiefly negative verdict. Along the way, I discuss various foundational issues concerning how we use mathematical objects to describe the world when doing physics, and how this practice should inform metaphysics. I diagnose the prominence of formal criteria as stemming from contentious views on these foundational issues, and endeavor to motivate some alternative views in their stead.
Journal Article
Past is prologue: from human relations to social exchange theory
PurposeThe purpose of this article is twofold. Its first objective is to bring to the fore the unexplored and neglected origins of social exchange theory (SET) to critique this body of conjecture. This unearthing is illustrated through focusing on the way the theory was developed and how this development was mischaracterised in literature. Its second objective is to invoke the methodological assemblage of ANTi-History and the “close reading” notion using multiple archival sources to demonstrate their usefulness within the critical qualitative method debate.Design/methodology/approachThe historic character of management and organization studies is exemplified through utilizing a combination of textual sources to examine how SET emerged from within the human relations school of thought throughout much of the twentieth century. Specifically, an array of sources (including archival data) is deployed and closely examined to trace how SET formed and became prevalent in organizational studies over the last decades.FindingsSET is not only indebted to the human relations movement in general and to Elton Mayo’s work in particular (as is well-known), but also to logical positivism and behavioralist-school psychology. As such, Homans’ work marked the beginning of a new era in organizational behavior research.Originality/valueThe article highlights the role of historical analyses in interpreting mainstream constructs in organizational behavior. In doing so, it reveals how critical qualitative research leads to understanding some shortcomings of a theory and indicates potential remedies.
Journal Article