Towards a Critical Philosphy of Science

Abstract

Up until fairly recently, and still continuing in many quarters, the received view about the philosophy of science was one rooted in the Vienna Circle/Logical Positivism/Logical Empiricism  . In fact, it is something of a commonplace to point out that logical positivism both established the philosophy of science as a professional specialty (with its own disciplinary identity) and in so doing left an indelible philosophical mark upon it. Indeed, as Suppes points out , although logical positivism was widely rejected as a general epistemology, many continued to see it as adaquate philosophy of science. Logical positivism may have died as a general epistemological or philosophical movement, therefore, but it was merely transformed into philosophy of science.