CfP: Meta-Philosophy of Science
The journal Philosophies (ISSN 2409-9287, http://bit.ly/Philosophies) invites contributions to the Special Issue
entitled "Meta-Philosophy of Science", edited by Prof. Robert Rynasiewicz
(Department of Philosophy, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts &
Sciences, Johns Hopkins University). The deadline for manuscripts
submission is 1 September 2017. The goal of this peer-reviewed Special Issue is to shed light on the following questions:
How
should we conceive of science as an historical entity over time? Is it
typically a cumulative, progressive process, as various forms
of scientific realism might suggest? Does it display cyclic
developmental patterns with radical discontinuities, as Kuhn famously
argued? Is it just one thing after another subject to historical
contingency and perhaps methodological anarchy, as Feyerabend appears to
have advocated? What categories are proper and adequate to describe its
development? Or is the very idea of theoretical history of science
misguided to begin with?
We invite papers that address these questions and related issues, including but not limited to the following:
Is
theory change continuous or discontinuous, or does it depend on the
level of resolution? Are there micro-patterns and macro-patterns? Should
particular phases in the history of science traditionally regarded as
paradigmatic or revolutionary be reevaluated and reclassified? Can
resources from evolutionary biology be tapped to explain scientific
development or change? Are theories, hypotheses and concepts
proliferated and then winnowed by a form of natural selection? If so,
should we expect to find those resources in population genetics, or in
the approach combining evolution and development known as evodevo, or in
both?
We also encourage submissions
illuminating the emergence of historical views concerning the theory of
science in the historical sense going back at least through Whewell, to
Kant and other Enlightenment thinkers.
For further information, please follow the link to the Special Issue Website at: http://bit.ly/