During the so-called 'historical turn' in the philosophy of science,
philosophers and historians boldly argued for general patterns
throughout the history of science. From Kuhn's landmark "Structure of
Scientific Revolutions" until the "Scrutinizing Science" project led by
Larry Laudan, there was optimism that there could be a general
theoretical approach to understanding the process of scientific change.
This optimism gradually faded as historians and philosophers began to
focus on the details of specific case studies located within
idiosyncratic historical, cultural, and political contexts, and
abandoned attempts to uncover general patterns of how scientific
theories and methods change through time. Recent research has suggested
that while we have learned a great deal about the diversity and
complexity of scientific practices across history, the push to abandon
hope for a broader understanding of scientific change was premature.
Because of this, philosophers, historians, and social scientists have
become interested in reviving the project of understanding the mechanism
of scientific change while respecting the diversity and complexity that
has been unveiled by careful historical research over the past few
decades.
The chapters in this volume consider a particular proposal for a general
theory of how scientific theories and methods change over time, first
articulated by Hakob Barseghyan in "The Laws of Scientific Change" and
since developed in a series of papers by a variety of members of the
scientonomy community. The chapters consider a wide range of issues,
from conceptual and historical challenges to the posited intellectual
patterns in the history of science, to the possibility of constructing a
general theory of scientific change, to begin with. Offering a new take
on the project of constructing a theory of scientific change and
integrating historical, philosophical, and social studies of science,
this volume will be of interest to historians, philosophers, and
sociologists of science.
