What Does it Mean to be an Empiricist? Empiricisms in Eighteenth Century Sciences PDF
Preview What Does it Mean to be an Empiricist? Empiricisms in Eighteenth Century Sciences
Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science 331 Siegfried Bodenmann Anne-Lise Rey Editors What Does it Mean to be an Empiricist? Empiricisms in Eighteenth Century Sciences Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science Volume 331 Editors Alisa Bokulich, Boston University Robert S. Cohen†, Boston University Jürgen Renn, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Kostas Gavroglu, University of Athens Managing Editor Lindy Divarci, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Editorial Board Theodore Arabatzis, University of Athens Heather E. Douglas, University of Waterloo Jean Gayon, Université Paris 1 Thomas F. Glick, Boston University Hubert Goenner, University of Goettingen John Heilbron, University of California, Berkeley Diana Kormos-Buchwald, California Institute of Technology Christoph Lehner, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Peter McLaughlin, Universität Heidelberg Agustı Nieto-Galan, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Nuccio Ordine, Universitá della Calabria Sylvan S. Schweber, Harvard University Ana Simões, Universidade de Lisboa John J. Stachel, Boston University Baichun Zhang, Chinese Academy of Science More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5710 Siegfried Bodenmann • Anne-Lise Rey Editors What Does it Mean to be an Empiricist? Empiricisms in Eighteenth Century Sciences Editors Siegfried Bodenmann Anne-Lise Rey Department of History History and Philosophy of Science University of Zurich Lille University/Marie Curie Individual Zürich, Switzerland Fellowship Vrije Universiteit Brussel Brussel, Belgium ISSN 0068-0346 ISSN 2214-7942 (electronic) Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science ISBN 978-3-319-69858-8 ISBN 978-3-319-69860-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69860-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018930010 © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by the registered company is Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Acknowledgments Every book has its own history that we tend to idealize afterward as a linear success story from the very first idea to the published artifact. In this teleological perception, every stage of the production is an important step forward that leads to the inevitable release. As we all know, history and life in general are much more complicated—and are thus much more interesting. The truth is that every step correlates with new elabo- rating, redefining, contesting, deconstructing, and reconfiguring. It is a constant negotiation with our own options, abilities, and skills. In this story of taking chances, the only constants are the persons who contributed with their ongoing support and commitment to shape this book. They are the true driving forces and have earned our gratitude. We can’t say for sure when the idea of this book emerged. But from a more “empirical” point of view, it was born in the laboratory of a panel we were allowed to present in Barcelona on the 20th of November 2010. We would like to express our gratitude to the European Society for the History of Science and to the organizers of its fourth international conference for enabling us to test our intuitions and working hypotheses. Our thanks also go to our speakers, who agreed to edit their papers and shape this book, but we also thank the ones who couldn’t accompany us till the end of this publishing journey as well as the participants who all permitted us to engage in a fruitful discussion. An experience doesn’t offer conclusive results unless it is replicated. We there- fore asked several colleagues from different disciplinary and institutional back- grounds to challenge, refine, and corroborate our core of initial papers through additional case studies. We are much indebted to André Charrak, Thierry Hoquet, Christian Leduc, Catherine Wilson, and Charles Wolfe who all accepted the invita- tion to embark on an already started journey. The book profited enormously from the encouragement of several colleagues. We owe special gratitude to Dan Garber and our wonderful publishing team at Springer Netherlands: Lucy Fleet, Silvie Demandt, Leaticia Kossligk, Mireille le Grand-van Kan, Stephen O’Reilly, and Tom Steendam. v vi Acknowledgments We certainly could not have finished this book without the careful proofreading of Abbott Chrisman, Patrick Eldridge, Sean Winkler, and Christa Wirth. Thanks are also due to Karin Bodenmann, Veronika Heinz, and Karin Plouze who helped assure the unity of the book by editing the notes and bibliographical references, as well as the bibliography itself. Finally, we must thank all the above-mentioned people for their patience and faith as life, death, and all their friends interrupted the project. We still hope that the quite long publishing process rather helped the book grow into its maturity than let its results go to waste. Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 1 Siegfried Bodenmann and Anne-Lise Rey Part I The Plurality of Empiricisms 2 Four Methods of Empirical Inquiry in the Aftermath of Newton’s Challenge ............................................................................ 15 Eric Schliesser 3 Fictitious Empiricism, Material Experiments. Conditions for Thinking the Enlightenment “Issue of Empiricism” ..................... 31 Marc Ratcliff Part II Newtonianism and Non-Newtonianism Empiricisms 4 Experimentum crucis: Newton’s Empiricism at the Crossroads ......... 47 Philippe Hamou 5 The Experiments of Willem Jacob ’s Gravesande: A Validation of Leibnizian Dynamics Against Newton? ...................... 71 Anne-Lise Rey 6 Empiricism as a Rhetoric of Legitimation: Maupertuis and the Shape of the Earth ..................................................................... 87 Siegfried Bodenmann Part III Empiricism and Rationality 7 Philosophical and Scientific Empiricism and Rationalism in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries....................................... 123 Catherine Wilson vii viii Contents 8 Buffon’s Natural History: The Catalogue of Facts and the Temptation of System ................................................................ 139 Thierry Hoquet 9 What Does It Mean to Be an Empiricist in Medicine? Baglivi’s De praxi medica (1696) ............................................................ 169 Raphaële Andrault 10 Empiricism and Certainty in Science: The Franco-Berlin School of Empiricism .............................................................................. 189 André Charrak Part IV Reevaluation of the Label ‘Empiricism’ 11 Was Early Eighteenth-Century Chemistry an Empirical Science? ............................................................................. 203 Bernard Joly 12 Conducting Observations and Tests: Lambert’s Theory of Empirical Science .................................................................. 215 Christian Leduc 13 From Locke to Materialism: Empiricism, the Brain and the Stirrings of Ontology................................................................. 235 Charles T. Wolfe Bibliography .................................................................................................... 265 Index ................................................................................................................. 291 Contributors Raphaële Andrault ENS Lyon, CNRS, Lyon, France Siegfried Bodenmann Department of History, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland André Charrak Department of Philosophy, University of Paris I, Paris, France Philippe Hamou Department of Philosophy, Paris-Nanterre University, Nanterre, France Thierry Hoquet Department of Philosophy, University of Paris Ouest-Nanterre, Nanterre, France Bernard Joly Department of Philosophy, University of Lille, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France Christian Leduc Department of Philosophy, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada Marc Ratcliff Department of Psychology, FPSE, University of Geneva, Genève, Switzerland Anne-Lise Rey History and Philosophy of Science, Lille University/Marie Curie Individual FellowshipVrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium Eric Schliesser Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Catherine Wilson Department of Philosophy, University of York, York, UK Charles T. Wolfe Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Sarton Centre for History of Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ix
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