L. Susan Stebbing Philosophy and the Physicists (1937)
A re-appraisal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21597889 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter West (0000-0003-3862-142X, Durham University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 859-873 |
| Publication date | 2022-09-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal for the History of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0960-8788 • E-ISSN: 1469-3526 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09608788.2022.2025761 |
| OpenAlex | W4210887254 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 8 |
In this re-appraisal of Philosophy and the Physicists, I want to challenge C. D. Broad’s account of what Stebbing accomplishes (in his own review of the text from 1938) and show that, alongside a thorough (and sometimes scathing) critique of Eddington’s philosophical-scientific writing, the text in fact offers valuable insights into both Stebbing’s own philosophy of science and her wider views on philosophical analysis. More specifically, I will argue that in Philosophy and the Physicists, Stebbing defends a model of scientific progress that, to some extent, pre-empts Thomas Kuhn’s attempt to change the “image of science” in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. I will also show how Stebbing’s response to Eddington’s attempt to use developments in modern physics to argue for idealism fit into her wider metaphysical outlook – which she elsewhere refers to as ‘realism’
Epistemology · Idealism · Metaphysics · Philosophy of science · Realism · Scientific realism · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Multidisciplinary Warburg-centric Studies · Philosophy · Philosophy, Science, and History
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |