Maria G. Mandourari
William Whewell’s Reviews
William Whewell (24 May 1794 – 6 March 1866) was an English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science
William Whewell
Studied the history of science
Observed Peirce*
Critically reassess existing philosophies of knowledge in the light of scientific development
“[..] a survey of the present state of knowledge, in order to learn from it the best method of philosophizing"
* Charles Sanders Peirce (September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist, sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism"
Unique in two important respects:
A.Genuinely questioned philosophy in the light of science, as noted by Peirce
B.Made them fundamental to his vocation
Metascientific commentaries in review articles between 1831 – 1834
Reports to the British Association Significant in the establishment as an
authoritative scientific criticOne of the leading scientific writers of the
day ‘Science’
scientific community public
WHEWELL’S EARLY REVIEWS
Reviews of Hershel, Lyell & Jones
Put his views on science in a public forum beyond the scientific and
university communities
REVIEWING INDUCTIVE PHILOSOPHY
Differences between Mill, Herschel and Whewell on epistemology
Whewell: progress had been made since the early 1830’s, when even the basic terms employed in the discussion of scientific method were insecure