The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences: Volume 2: Founded upon their History (Cambridge Library Collection - Philosophy)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Reissue, 1/2/2014
EAN 9781108064033, ISBN10: 1108064035
Paperback, 598 pages, 21.6 x 14 x 3.4 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
First published in 1840, this two-volume treatise by Cambridge polymath William Whewell (1794–1886) remains significant in the philosophy of science. The work was intended as the 'moral' to his three-volume History of the Inductive Sciences (1837), which is also reissued in this series. Building on philosophical foundations laid by Immanuel Kant and Francis Bacon, Whewell opens with the aphorism 'Man is the Interpreter of Nature, Science the right interpretation'. Volume 2 contains the final sections of Part 1, addressing namely the philosophy of biology and palaetiology. Part 2, 'Of Knowledge', includes a selective review of opinions on the nature of knowledge and the means of seeking it, beginning with Plato. Whewell's work upholds throughout his belief that the mind was active and not merely a passive receiver of knowledge from the world. A key text in Victorian epistemological debates, notably challenged by John Stuart Mill and his System of Logic, Whewell's treatise merits continued study and discussion in the present day.
Part I. Of Ideas (cont.)
9. The philosophy of biology
10. The philosophy of palaeontology
Part II. Of Knowledge
11. Of the construction of science
12. Review of opinions on the nature of knowledge, and the means of seeking it
13. Of methods employed in the formation of science.