The
history and philosophy of science (HPS) is an
academic discipline that encompasses the
philosophy of scienceThe philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, and implications of science. The field is defined by an interest in one of a set of "traditional" problems or an interest in central or foundational concerns in science...
and the
history of scienceThe history of science and technology is a field of history which examines how humanity's understanding of the natural world and ability to manipulate it have changed over the millennia...
. Although many scholars in the field are trained primarily as either historians or as philosophers, there are degree-granting departments of HPS at several prominent universities (see below).
While it may seem an umbrella term, as described above, people in the branch of HPS consider this fusion of history of science with philosophy of science to be perfectly natural.
The
history and philosophy of science (HPS) is an
academic discipline that encompasses the
philosophy of scienceThe philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, and implications of science. The field is defined by an interest in one of a set of "traditional" problems or an interest in central or foundational concerns in science...
and the
history of scienceThe history of science and technology is a field of history which examines how humanity's understanding of the natural world and ability to manipulate it have changed over the millennia...
. Although many scholars in the field are trained primarily as either historians or as philosophers, there are degree-granting departments of HPS at several prominent universities (see below).
A Unified Discipline
While it may seem an umbrella term, as described above, people in the branch of HPS consider this fusion of history of science with philosophy of science to be perfectly natural. Others see it as a historical anachronism, resulting from the misguided approach of the logical positivists. The origin of this hybrid approach is reflected in the career of Thomas Kuhn. His first permanent appointment, at the
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
, was to a position advertised by the philosophy department, but he also taught courses from the history department. When he was promoted to full professor in the history department only, Kuhn was offended at the philosophers' rejection because "I sure as hell wanted to be there, and it was my philosophy students who were working with me, not on philosophy but on history, were nevertheless my more important students". This attitude is also reflected in his historicist approach, as outlined in Kuhn's seminal Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962, 2nd ed. 1970), wherein philosophical questions about scientific theories and, especially, theory change are understood in historical terms, employing concepts such as
paradigm shiftParadigm shift is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science...
.
History and development
More recently the sociology of science and technology studies have become popular topics and a few HPS departments have become
Science StudiesScience studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in a broad social, historical, and philosophical context. It is concerned with the history of scientific disciplines, the interrelationships between science and society, and the alleged covert...
departments, e.g., the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the
University of New South WalesThe University of New South Wales, also known as UNSW or colloquially as New South, is a university situated in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.The University was founded in 1949...
was known as the School of Science and Technology Studies (STS) from the mid-1980s until 2001. For this reason it can be argued that the fields are identical and that the difference is only one of emphasis. While it may seem that STS is a broader concept, leaving room for other approaches to science such as sociology of science, HPS departments are not usually as exclusive as a literal interpretation of the name might imply.
HPS Programs
The following universities have departments dedicated to the History and Philosophy of Science:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prosp-students/prospectus/maps/sts/
The following universities offer degrees in HPS through other departments:
- The Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, University of Leeds (formerly Division of HPS) exists within the University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire and, with over 33,000 full-time students, is the second largest single site university in the United Kingdom. In the world university league tables published in November 2008, the university's ‘employer...
philosophy department.
- The University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales, also known as UNSW or colloquially as New South, is a university situated in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.The University was founded in 1949...
has a unit for HPS within their Department of History and Philosophy (but formerly had a separate department of HPS, sometimes known as STS).
- The University of Malaya
The University of Malaya is the oldest university in Malaysia. The university motto is Ilmu Punca Kemajuan ....
offers undergraduate and graduate programs in HPS through the Department of Science and Technology Studies.
- Arizona State University
Arizona State University is the largest public research university in the United States under a single administration, with total student enrollment of 68,064 as of fall 2009...
offers undergraduate and graduate programs in HPS through the Center for Biology and Society in the School of Life Sciences.
The following universities offer inter-departmental programs in HPS:
- University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...
offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in HPS
- California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. The Institute maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering, and operates and manages NASA's neighboring Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
offers an undergraduate program in HPS through their Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico offers a graduate program in HPS coordinated by the Philosophy and the Science faculties.
- University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
offers a program in HPS administered by the departments of History and Philosophy
- University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a private Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, Indiana, USA....
offers a graduate program in HPS through their Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values with students admitted to either the history or philosophy department
- Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
offers a program in HPS administered by the departments of History and Philosophy
Similar Programs
Many universities also have history of science programs, which do not include any philosophy of science. Others may provide a philosophy of science track within normal philosophy departments. Often these departments are named to clarify this emphasis on philosophy of science:
Those departments that study aspects of science apart from history and philosophy often prefer more general descriptions such as
Science studiesScience studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in a broad social, historical, and philosophical context. It is concerned with the history of scientific disciplines, the interrelationships between science and society, and the alleged covert...
or
Science and Technology StudiesScience and technology studies or scientotechnological studies is the study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these in turn affect society, politics, and culture...
:
- University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego is a public research university located in La Jolla, San Diego, California, United States...
offers a graduate program in Science StudiesScience studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in a broad social, historical, and philosophical context. It is concerned with the history of scientific disciplines, the interrelationships between science and society, and the alleged covert...
through the departments of History, Philosophy, Sociology and Communication http://sciencestudies.ucsd.edu/
- University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong is a public university with approximately 22,000 students, located in the coastal city of Wollongong, which is 80 kilometres south of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia.-History:...
offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in "Science, Technology and Society" through the School of Social Sciences, Media and Communications.http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/ssmac/sts/index.html
- Arizona State University
Arizona State University is the largest public research university in the United States under a single administration, with total student enrollment of 68,064 as of fall 2009...
offers a graduate program in Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology through its Graduate College.
See also
- Science studies
Science studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in a broad social, historical, and philosophical context. It is concerned with the history of scientific disciplines, the interrelationships between science and society, and the alleged covert...
- History of science and technology
The history of science and technology is a field of history which examines how humanity's understanding of the natural world and ability to manipulate it have changed over the millennia...
- Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, and implications of science. The field is defined by an interest in one of a set of "traditional" problems or an interest in central or foundational concerns in science...
- Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific...
- Scientific revolutions
Paradigm shift is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science...
- Thomas Kuhn
- Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH, FRS, FBA was an Austrian and British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics. He is considered one of the most influential philosophers of science of the 20th century, and also wrote extensively on social and political philosophy...
- Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos was a philosopher of mathematics and science, known for his thesis of the fallibility of mathematics and its 'methodology of proofs and refutations', and also for introducing the concept of the 'research programme' in his methodology of scientific research programmes.-Life:Lakatos was...
- Paul Feyerabend
Paul Karl Feyerabend was an Austrian-born philosopher of science best known for his work as a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked for three decades...
- Alan Chalmers
Dr. Alan Chalmers has been a Visiting Scholar at the Flinders University Philosophy Department since 1999. For the 2007 fall semester he will be a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He was born in Bristol, England in 1939, and attained a BSc in physics at the University of Bristol,...