Beck, Pieter T. L. (2024) Patience, Diligence, and Humility: Epistemic Virtues and Chemistry in the Eighteenth Century Dutch Republic. [Preprint]
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Abstract
This paper discusses the connection between epistemic virtues and chemistry in the eighteenth century Dutch Republic. It does so in two ways. First, it presents the virtue epistemology of three Dutch university professors and natural philosophers: Herman Boerhaave, Petrus van Musschenbroek, and Johannes David Hahn. It shows how their criticism of a priori philosophy and their defence of experimental natural philosophy is connected to a specific virtue epistemology. Four epistemic virtues are central for these authors: intellectual patience, diligence and humility, and impartiality. This virtue epistemology informs their presentation of chemistry as an exemplary discipline. The practice of chemistry instils these key epistemic virtues in its practitioners. Second, the article shows how these epistemic virtues also play a role in later debates regarding the reception of Lavoisier’s work in the Dutch Republic. This article hopes to provide an example of what Ian Kidd has called a ‘deep conception of epistemic vice [and virtue]’. It also argues for the fruitfulness of applying a virtue epistemic framework to the study of the Chemical Revolution.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | To appear in Synthese | ||||||
| Keywords: | history and philosophy of science; chemistry; chemical revolution; virtue epistemology; epistemic virtues; epistemic vices | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Epistemology Specific Sciences > Chemistry General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Pieter Beck | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 26 Nov 2024 17:08 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 26 Nov 2024 17:08 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 24271 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Epistemology Specific Sciences > Chemistry General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science |
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| Date: | 2024 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24271 |
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