A last thought. Paul Franco has lately argued that “odd language” philosophers performed an underappreciated function within the historic flip in philosophy of science (Franco 2021). Together with Toulmin, he discusses Scriven, Hesse and the physicist Watson. In accordance with Franco, the issues in view for odd language evaluation “[were] half and parcel of the historic flip, in addition to its reception.” The implication is that, by attending to those contributions, we will higher perceive why philosophy of science developed because it did within the many years following World Struggle II.
I believe that is principally proper, and a welcome corrective to among the narratives we inform in regards to the area in the midst of the century. Nonetheless, in terms of Toulmin’s early work, I’m inclined to emphasise a unique level. Removed from illuminating how philosophy of science truly developed through the twentieth century, Toulmin’s philosophy is extra helpful for drawing consideration to an unrealized risk: a highway not taken. Philosophy of science within the post-war interval was decidedly not Wittgensteinian, at the least within the sense exemplified by Toulmin. In some ways it was out of tune with the essential thrust of this philosophy. And whereas philosophers would ultimately discover their approach again to subjects like illustration and understanding, nearly none of this could be influenced by Toulmin’s philosophical strategy. The highway truly taken could bear the stamp of odd language evaluation, however of Toulmin’s philosophy of science in follow, little or no survived.
* I’ve embedded a pair movies of Toulmin talking, after the reference listing. One is brief and the opposite is lengthy (and fairly attention-grabbing, at the least for Toulmin aficionados). Scroll down to seek out them…
** For a pleasant quick primer on Wittgenstein’s philosophy (overlaying each the early and late philosophy, however emphasizing the Tractatus), see Gilbert Ryle’s quick article in Scientific American, referred to as “The work of an influential however little-known thinker of science: Ludwig Wittgenstein” (1957). This text additionally comprises an entertaining portrait of Wittgenstein as a personality (“He was a spellbinding and considerably terrifying particular person. He had unnervingly piercing eyes…”).
Alexander, H. G. 1958. Normal statements as guidelines of inference. In H. Feigl, M. Scriven and G. Maxwell, eds., Minnesota Research in Philosophy of Science, Quantity II, 309–329. Minneapolis: College of Minnesota Press.
Eddington, A. 1939. The Philosophy of Bodily Science. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge College Press.
Einstein, A. 1934. On the tactic of theoretical physics. Philosophy of Science 1:163–169.
Feigl, H. 1970. The “orthodox” view of theories: remarks in protection in addition to critique. In M. Radner and S. Winokur, eds., Analyses of Theories and Strategies of Physics and Psychology, 3–16. Minneapolis: College of Minnesota Press.
Franco, P. L. 2021. Strange language philosophy, clarification, and the historic flip in philosophy of science. Research in Historical past and Philosophy of Science Half A 90:77–85.
Friedman, M. 2002. Kuhn and Logical Empiricism. In T. Nickles, ed., Thomas Kuhn, 19–44. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge College Press.
Goodman 1955. Truth, Fiction and Forecast. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Firm, Inc.
Hempel, C. G. 1965. Facets of Scientific Rationalization. In Research in Scientific Rationalization and Different Essays in Philosophy of Science, 331–496. New York: Free Press.
Kuhn, T. 1962. The Construction of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: The College of Chicago Press.
Monk, R. 1990. Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Responsibility of Genius. New York: Penguin Books.
Nagel, E. 1954. The Philosophy of Science: An Introduction [book review]. Thoughts 63:403–412.
Reisch, G. 2005. How the Chilly Struggle Remodeled Philosophy of Science: To the Icy Slopes of Logic.
Ryle, G. 1949. The Idea of Thoughts. London: Hutchinson.
Ryle, G. 1957. The work of an influential however little-known thinker of science: Ludwig Wittgenstein. Scientific American 157:251–259.
Scriven, M. 1955. The Philosophy of Science: An Introduction [book review]. The Philosophical Assessment 64:124–128.
Suppe, P. (ed.) 1977. The Construction of Scientific Theories (Second Version). Chicago: College of Illinois Press.
Toulmin, S. 1953. The Philosophy of Science: An Introduction. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Toulmin, S. 1960. Idea-formation in philosophy and psychology. In S. Hook, ed., Dimensions of Thoughts: A Symposium, 211–225. New York: NYU Press.
Toulmin, S. 1961. Foresight and Understanding: An Inquiry into the Goals of Science. Bloomington: Indiana College Press.
Toulmin, S. 1972. Human Understanding: The Collective Use and Evolution of Ideas. Princeton: Princeton College Press.
Toulmin, S. 1974. Postscript: the construction of scientific theories. In P. Suppe, ed., The Construction of Scientific Theories, 600–616. Chicago: College of Illinois Press.
Toulmin, S. 1977. From kind to perform: philosophy and historical past of science within the Nineteen Fifties and now. Daedalus 106:143–162.
Toulmin, S. and Goodfield, J. 1961. The Material of the Heavens: The Growth of Astronomy and Dynamics. Chicago: The College of Chicago Press.
Toulmin, S. and Goodfield, J. 1962. The Structure of Matter. Chicago: The College of Chicago Press.
Toulmin, S. and Goodfield, J. 1965. The Discovery of Time. Chicago: The College of Chicago Press.
Watson, W. H. 1938. On Understanding Physics. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge College Press.
Wittgenstein, L. 1922. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Firm, Inc.
Wittgenstein, L. 1952. Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Basil-Blackwell.
