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For 35 years, the critical and creative writings of Robert E. Butts
have been a notable and welcome part of European and North American
philosophy. A few years ago, James Robert Brown and Jiirgen
Mittelstrass feted Professor Butts with a volume entitled An
Intimate Relation (Boston Studies vol. 116, 1989), essays by
twenty-six philosophers and historians of the sciences. And that
joining of philosophers and historians was impressive evidence of
the 'intimate relation' between historical illumination and
philosophical understanding which is characteristic of Butts
throughout his work. Not alone, Butts has been, and is, one of this
generation's most incisive thinkers, devoted to responsible textual
scholarship and equally responsible imaginative interpretation.
Brown and Mittelstrass said that "throughout his writings, science,
its philosophy, and its history have been treated as a seamless
web," and I would add only that philosophy per se is a part of the
web too. Here in this book before us are the results, a lovely
collection from the work of Robert Butts, who is for so many of his
colleagues, students and readers, Mr. HPS, the model philosophical
historian and historical philosopher of the sciences. July 1993
Robert S. Cohen Center for Philosophy and History of Science,
Boston University TABLE OF CONTENTS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE IX
INTRODUCTION Xl PART I EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 1 1. Some
tactics in Galileo's propaganda for the mathematization of
scientific experience 3 2.
This is a book about dreaming and knowing, and about thinking that
one can ascertain the difference. It is a book about the Bernards
of the world who would have us believe that there is a humanly
uncreated world existing en Boi that freely dis closes its forever
fixed ontology, even though they too must accept that -many of the
worlds we make as we try to under stand ourselves are counterfeit.
It is a book about the real estate of the human mind. The book is
about Leibniz and Kant, and about methods of science. It is also
about what is now called pseudo-science. It tries to show how Kant
struggled to mark the limits of the humanly knowable, and how thi s
strug gle involved him in trying to answer questions of importance
then and now. Some are philosophers' questions: the epistemo
logical status of mathematics, the role of space and time in
knowing, the nature of the conceptual constraints on our ef forts
to hypothesize the possible. Some are questions of per ennial human
interest: Can spirits exist? How is the soul re lated to the body?
How can we legitimately talk about God, if at all? Finally, Kant
teaches that these are all questions bearing on our entitlements in
claiming to know. Leibniz fashioned a way of talking about nature
and super nature that I call the Double Government Methodology."
The idea to produce the current volume was conceived by Jiirgen
Mittelstrass and Robert E. Butts in 1978. Idealist philosophers are
wrong about one thing: the temporal gap separating idea and reality
can be very long indeed - even ten or so years Problems of timing
were joined by personal problems and by the pressure of other
professional commitments. Fortunately, James Brown agreed to
cooperate in the editing of the volume; the infusion of his usual
energy, good judgement and good-natured promptness saved the volume
and made its produc tion possible. Despite the delays, the messages
of the papers included in the book have not gone stale. An
extremely worthwhile exercise in international philosophical
cooperation has come to fruition; the German constructivist
philosophical position is here represented in papers in English
that will make its contemporary importance available to a larger
audience. The editors owe thanks to many persons. All involved in
the project owe much to the interest and support of Nicholas
Rescher, a friend of the undertaking from the time of its
inception. My review of the translations was helped immensely by
Andrea Purvis' careful copy editing of the typescript. Most of all,
however, we owe gratitude and admiration for the tireless efforts
on behalf of this enterprise to Jiirgen Mittelstrass."
The essays in this volume (except for the contribution of Dr. Le
Grand) are extremely revised versions of papers originally
delivered at a workshop on Galileo held in Blacksburg, Virginia in
October, 1975. The meeting was organized by Professor Joseph Pitt
and sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion, The
College of Arts and Sciences, and the Division of Research of
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The papers
that follow deal with problems OIf Galileo's philosophy of science,
specific and general problems connected with his methodology, and
with historical and conceptual questions concerning the
relationship of his work to that of contemporaries and both earlier
and later scientists. New perspectives take many forms. In this
book the 'newness' has, for the most part, two forms. First, in the
papers by Wisan, Shea, Le Grand and Wallace (the concerns will also
appear in some of the other contributions), greatly enriched
historical discoveries of how Galileo's science and its method
ology developed are provided. It should be stressed that these
papers are attempts to recapture a deep sense of the kind of
science Galileo was creating. Other papers in the volume, for
example, those by McMullin, Machamer, Butts and Pitt, underscore
the importance of this historical venture by discussing various
aspects of the philosophical background of Galileo's thought. The
historical and philosophical evaluations and analyses compliment
one another."
This volume grew out of the papers and comments presented at the
Fifth University of Western Ontario Philosophy Colloquium, October
31- November 2, 1969. The colloquium papers were delivered by P.
Suppes, R. B. Braithwaite, C. W. Churchman, and J. S. Minas.
Comments are provided from others attending the colloquium, with
one reply by P. Suppes. Also included are papers recently published
elsewhere by A. Michalos, P. Fishburn and H. -N. Castaneda. The
editors express thanks to these authors and to the editors of the
following respective journals for per mission to publish: Theory
and Decision, Synthese, and Critica. Finally, there is an extensive
bibliography of decision theory, vis-a. -vis science and values.
The editors wish to thank the officers of the University of Western
Ontario for making the colloquium possible. THE EDITORS CONTENTS
PREFACE V PATRICK SUPPES I The Concept of Obligation in the Context
of Decision Theory 1 HENR Y KYBURG I Comments 15 PATRICK SUPPES I
Reply to Professor Kyburg 19 R. B. BRAITHWAITE I Behind Decision
and Games Theory: Acting with a Co-Agent versus Acting Along with
Nature 22 ISAAC LEVI I Comments 56 RONALD GIERE I Comments 62 I. J.
GOOD I Comments 67 C. WEST CHURCHMAN I Measurement: A Systems
Approach 70 ISAAC LEVI I Comments 87 RONALD GIERE I Comments 95
PETER C. FISHBURN I Utility Theory with Inexact Preferences and
Degrees of Preference 98 I. J."
The Fifth International Congress of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science was held at the University of Western
Ontario, London, Canada, 27 August to 2 September 1975. The
Congress was held under the auspices of the International Union of
History and Philosophy of Science, Division of Logic, Methodology
and Philosophy of Science, and was sponsored by the National
Research Council of Canada and the University of Western Ontario.
As those associated closely with the work of the Division over the
years know well, the work undertaken by its members varies greatly
and spans a number of fields not always obviously related. In
addition, the volume of work done by first rate scholars and
scientists in the various fields of the Division has risen
enormously. For these and related reasons it seemed to the editors
chosen by the Divisional officers that the usual format of
publishing the proceedings of the Congress be abandoned in favour
of a somewhat more flexible, and hopefully acceptable, method of
pre sentation. Accordingly, the work of the invited participants to
the Congress has been divided into four volumes appearing in the
University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science. The
volumes are entitled, Logic, Foundations of Mathematics and
Computability Theory, Foun dational Problems in the Special
Sciences, Basic Problems in Methodol ogy and Linguistics, and
Historical and Philosophical Dimensions of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science."
The Fifth International Congress of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science was held at the University of Western
Ontario, London, Canada, 27 August to 2 September 1975. The
Congress was held under the auspices of the International Union of
History and Philosophy of Science, Division of Logic, Methodology
and Philosophy of Science, and was sponsored by the National
Research Council of Canada and the University of Western Ontario.
As those associated closely with the work of the Division over the
years know well, the work undertaken by its members varies greatly
and spans a number of fields not always obviously related. In
addition, the volume of work done by first rate scholars and
scientists in the various fields of the Division has risen
enormously. For these and related reasons it seemed to the editors
chosen by the Divisional officers that the usual format of
publishing the proceedings of the Congress be abandoned in favour
of a somewhat more flexible, and hopefully acceptable, method of
pre sentation. Accordingly, the work of the invited participants to
the Congress has been divided into four volumes appearing in the
University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science. The
volumes are entitled, Logic, Foundations of Mathematics and
Computability Theory, Foun dational Problems in the Special
Sciences, Basic Problems in Methodol ogy and Linguistics, and
Historical and Philosophical Dimensions of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science."
Robert E. Butts (1928-1997) was a philosopher and historian of
science whose central concerns were the distinction between the
rational and the irrational. He viewed scientific rationality as
our major defence against the various conditions that encourage
witch hunts and similar outbursts of irrationality, with all their
attendant pain and terror. Butts saw himself as a pragmatic
realist, combining what he took to be the best aspects of logical
empiricism with a historically informed pragmatism, deeply
appreciative of the methods of science, trying to describe a kind
of rationality essential in the struggle to preserve human values.
This volume gathers previously unpublished essays and lectures with
some previously published, thematically related essays. It includes
essays and lectures on philosophical aspects of the European witch
hunt, on scientific rationality and methodology, and on the
relationships between science and philosophy exhibited in the
writings of such historically significant figures as Leibniz,
D'Alembert, Hume, Kant, Carnap and Kuhn.
The Fifth International Congress of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science was held at the University of Western
Ontario, London, Canada, 27 August to 2 September 1975. The
Congress was held under the auspices of the International Union of
History and Philosophy of Science, Division of Logic, Methodology
and Philosophy of Science, and was sponsored by the National
Research Council of Canada and the University of Western Ontario.
As those associated closely with the work of the Division over the
years know weIl, the work undertaken by its members varies greatly
and spans a number of fields not always obviously related. In
addition, the volume of work done by first rate scholars and
scientists in the various fields of the Division has risen
enormously. For these and related reasons it seemed to the editors
chosen by the Divisional officers that the usual format of
publishing the proceedings of the Congress be abandoned in favour
of a somewhat more flexible, and hopefully acceptable, method of
pre sentation. Accordingly, the work of the invited participants to
the Congress has been divided into four volumes appearing in the
University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science. The
volumes are entitled, Logic, Foundations of Mathematics and
Computability Theory, Foun dational Problems in the Special
Sciences, Basic Problems in Methodol ogy and Linguistics, and
Historical and Philosophical Dimensions of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science."
The idea to produce the current volume was conceived by Jiirgen
Mittelstrass and Robert E. Butts in 1978. Idealist philosophers are
wrong about one thing: the temporal gap separating idea and reality
can be very long indeed - even ten or so years Problems of timing
were joined by personal problems and by the pressure of other
professional commitments. Fortunately, James Brown agreed to
cooperate in the editing of the volume; the infusion of his usual
energy, good judgement and good-natured promptness saved the volume
and made its produc tion possible. Despite the delays, the messages
of the papers included in the book have not gone stale. An
extremely worthwhile exercise in international philosophical
cooperation has come to fruition; the German constructivist
philosophical position is here represented in papers in English
that will make its contemporary importance available to a larger
audience. The editors owe thanks to many persons. All involved in
the project owe much to the interest and support of Nicholas
Rescher, a friend of the undertaking from the time of its
inception. My review of the translations was helped immensely by
Andrea Purvis' careful copy editing of the typescript. Most of all,
however, we owe gratitude and admiration for the tireless efforts
on behalf of this enterprise to Jiirgen Mittelstrass."
The Fifth International Congress of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science was held at the University of Western
Ontario, London, Canada, 27 August to 2 September 1975. The
Congress was held under the auspices of the International Union of
History and Philosophy of Science, Division of Logic, Methodology
and Philosophy of Science, and was sponsored by the National
Research Council of Canada and the University of Western Ontario.
As those associated closely with the work of the Division over the
years know well, the work undertaken by its members varies greatly
and spans a number of fields not always obviously related. In
addition, the volume of work done by first rate scholars and
scientists in the various fields of the Division has risen
enormously. For these and related reasons it seemed to the editors
chosen by the Divisional officers that the usual format of
publishing the proceedings of the Congress be abandoned in favour
of a somewhat more flexible, and hopefully acceptable, method of
pre sentation. Accordingly, the work of the invited participants to
the Congress has been divided into four volumes appearing in the
University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science. The
volumes are entitled, Logic, Foundations of Mathematics and
Computability Theory, Foun dational Problems in the Special
Sciences, Basic Problems in Methodol ogy and Linguistics, and
Historical and Philosophical Dimensions of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science."
The Fifth International Congress of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science was held at the University of Western
Ontario, London, Canada, 27 August to 2 September 1975. The
Congress was held under the auspices of the International Union of
History and Philosophy of Science, Division of Logic, Methodology
and Philosophy of Science, and was sponsored by the National
Research Council of Canada and the University of Western Ontario.
As those associated closely with the work of the Division over the
years know well, the work undertaken by its members varies greatly
and spans a number of fields not always obviously related. In
addition, the volume of work done by first rate scholars and
scientists in the various fields of the Division has risen
enormously. For these and related reasons it seemed to the editors
chosen by the Divisional officers that the usual format of
publishing the proceedings of the Congress be abandoned in favour
of a somewhat more flexible, and hopefully acceptable, method of
pre sentation. Accordingly, the work of the invited participants to
the Congress has been divided into four volumes appearing in the
University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science. The
volumes are entitled, Logic, Foundations of Mathematics and
Computability Theory, Foun dational Problems in the Special
Sciences, Basic Problems in Methodol ogy and Linguistics, and
Historical and Philosophical Dimensions of Logic, Methodology and
Philosophy of Science."
For 35 years, the critical and creative writings of Robert E. Butts
have been a notable and welcome part of European and North American
philosophy. A few years ago, James Robert Brown and Jiirgen
Mittelstrass feted Professor Butts with a volume entitled An
Intimate Relation (Boston Studies vol. 116, 1989), essays by
twenty-six philosophers and historians of the sciences. And that
joining of philosophers and historians was impressive evidence of
the 'intimate relation' between historical illumination and
philosophical understanding which is characteristic of Butts
throughout his work. Not alone, Butts has been, and is, one of this
generation's most incisive thinkers, devoted to responsible textual
scholarship and equally responsible imaginative interpretation.
Brown and Mittelstrass said that "throughout his writings, science,
its philosophy, and its history have been treated as a seamless
web," and I would add only that philosophy per se is a part of the
web too. Here in this book before us are the results, a lovely
collection from the work of Robert Butts, who is for so many of his
colleagues, students and readers, Mr. HPS, the model philosophical
historian and historical philosopher of the sciences. July 1993
Robert S. Cohen Center for Philosophy and History of Science,
Boston University TABLE OF CONTENTS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE IX
INTRODUCTION Xl PART I EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 1 1. Some
tactics in Galileo's propaganda for the mathematization of
scientific experience 3 2.
Robert E. Butts (1928-1997) was a philosopher and historian of
science whose central concerns were the distinction between the
rational and the irrational. He viewed scientific rationality as
our major defence against the various conditions that encourage
witch hunts and similar outbursts of irrationality, with all their
attendant pain and terror. Butts saw himself as a pragmatic
realist, combining what he took to be the best aspects of logical
empiricism with a historically informed pragmatism, deeply
appreciative of the methods of science, trying to describe a kind
of rationality essential in the struggle to preserve human values.
This volume gathers previously unpublished essays and lectures with
some previously published, thematically related essays. It includes
essays and lectures on philosophical aspects of the European witch
hunt, on scientific rationality and methodology, and on the
relationships between science and philosophy exhibited in the
writings of such historically significant figures as Leibniz,
D'Alembert, Hume, Kant, Carnap and Kuhn.
This is a book about dreaming and knowing, and about thinking that
one can ascertain the difference. It is a book about the Bernards
of the world who would have us believe that there is a humanly
uncreated world existing en Boi that freely dis closes its forever
fixed ontology, even though they too must accept that -many of the
worlds we make as we try to under stand ourselves are counterfeit.
It is a book about the real estate of the human mind. The book is
about Leibniz and Kant, and about methods of science. It is also
about what is now called pseudo-science. It tries to show how Kant
struggled to mark the limits of the humanly knowable, and how thi s
strug gle involved him in trying to answer questions of importance
then and now. Some are philosophers' questions: the epistemo
logical status of mathematics, the role of space and time in
knowing, the nature of the conceptual constraints on our ef forts
to hypothesize the possible. Some are questions of per ennial human
interest: Can spirits exist? How is the soul re lated to the body?
How can we legitimately talk about God, if at all? Finally, Kant
teaches that these are all questions bearing on our entitlements in
claiming to know. Leibniz fashioned a way of talking about nature
and super nature that I call the Double Government Methodology."
The papers in this volume are offered in celebration of the 200th
anni versary of the pub 1 i cat i on of Inmanue 1 Kant's The
MetaphysicaL Foundations of NatupaL Science. All of the es says
(including the Introduction) save two were written espe ci ally for
thi s volume. Gernot Bohme' s paper is an amended and enlarged
version of one originally read in the series of lectures and
colloquia in philosophy of science offered by Boston University. My
own paper is a revised and enlarged version (with an appendix
containing completely new material) of one read at the biennial
meeting of the Philosophy of Sci ence Association held in Chicago
in 1984. Why is it important to devote this attention to Kant's
last published work in the philosophy of physics? The excellent
essays in the volume will answer the question. I will provide some
schematic com ments designed to provide an image leading from the
general question to its very specific answers. Kant is best known
for hi s monumental Croitique of Pure Reason and for his writings
in ethical theory. His "critical" philosophy requires an initial
sharp division of knowledge into its theoretical and practical
parts. Moral perfection of attempts to act out of duty is the aim
of practical reason. The aim of theoretical reason is to know the
truth about ma terial and spiritual nature."
The essays in this volume (except for the contribution of Dr. Le
Grand) are extremely revised versions of papers originally
delivered at a workshop on Galileo held in Blacksburg, Virginia in
October, 1975. The meeting was organized by Professor Joseph Pitt
and sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion, The
College of Arts and Sciences, and the Division of Research of
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The papers
that follow deal with problems OIf Galileo's philosophy of science,
specific and general problems connected with his methodology, and
with historical and conceptual questions concerning the
relationship of his work to that of contemporaries and both earlier
and later scientists. New perspectives take many forms. In this
book the 'newness' has, for the most part, two forms. First, in the
papers by Wisan, Shea, Le Grand and Wallace (the concerns will also
appear in some of the other contributions), greatly enriched
historical discoveries of how Galileo's science and its method
ology developed are provided. It should be stressed that these
papers are attempts to recapture a deep sense of the kind of
science Galileo was creating. Other papers in the volume, for
example, those by McMullin, Machamer, Butts and Pitt, underscore
the importance of this historical venture by discussing various
aspects of the philosophical background of Galileo's thought. The
historical and philosophical evaluations and analyses compliment
one another."
This volume includes Whewell's seminal studies of the logic of
induction (with his critique of Mill's theory), arguments for his
realist view that science discovers necessary truths about nature,
and exercises in the epistemology and ontology of science. The book
sets forth a coherent statement of a historically important
philosophy of science whose influence has never been greater: every
one of Whewell's fundamental ideas about the philosophy of science
is presented here.
This volume includes Whewell's seminal studies of the logic of
induction (with his critique of Mill's theory), arguments for his
realist view that science discovers necessary truths about nature,
and exercises in the epistemology and ontology of science. The book
sets forth a coherent statement of a historically important
philosophy of science whose influence has never been greater: every
one of Whewell's fundamental ideas about the philosophy of science
is presented here.
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