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