PhilSci Archive

Towards a methodology for integrated history and philosophy of science

Scholl, Raphael and Räz, Tim (2016) Towards a methodology for integrated history and philosophy of science. The philosophy of historical case studies.

This is the latest version of this item.

[img] PDF (Authors' penultimate draft)
SchollRazTowardsApril2016.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (202kB)

Abstract

We respond to two kinds of skepticism about integrated history and philosophy of science: foundational and methodological. Foundational skeptics doubt that the history and the philosophy of science have much to gain from each other in principle. We therefore discuss some of the unique rewards of work at the intersection of the two disciplines. By contrast, methodological skeptics already believe that the two disciplines should be related to each other, but they doubt that this can be done successfully. Their worries are captured by the so-called dilemma of case studies: On one horn of the dilemma, we begin our integrative enterprise with philosophy and proceed from there to history, in which case we may well be selecting our historical cases so as to fit our preconceived philosophical theses. On the other horn, we begin with history and proceed to philosophical reflection, in which case we are prone to unwarranted generalization from particulars. Against worries about selection bias, we argue that we routinely need to make explicit the criteria for choosing particular historical cases to investigate particular philosophical theses. It then becomes possible to ask whether or not the selection criteria were biased. Against worries about unwarranted generalization, we stress the iterative nature of the process by which historical data and philosophical concepts are brought into alignment. The skeptics' doubts are fueled by an outdated model of outright confirmation vs. outright falsification of philosophical concepts. A more appropriate model is one of stepwise and piecemeal improvement.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Scholl, Raphaelraphael.scholl@gmail.com
Räz, Timtim.raez@gmail.com
Additional Information: Forthcoming in T. Sauer and R. Scholl, eds., The Philosophy of Historical Case Studies, Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, Springer.
Keywords: history and philosophy of science; case studies; methodology; dilemma of case studies
Subjects: General Issues > History of Science Case Studies
Depositing User: Raphael Scholl
Date Deposited: 06 Apr 2016 20:43
Last Modified: 06 Apr 2016 20:43
Item ID: 12029
Journal or Publication Title: The philosophy of historical case studies
Publisher: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (Springer)
Subjects: General Issues > History of Science Case Studies
Date: 2016
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12029

Available Versions of this Item

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item