4 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 



The character of the term determines the nature of the 

 approach which must be made to its definition. It is obvi- 

 ously a composite term, taking its meaning from the more 

 elemental terms constituting it. No definition of the philos- 

 ophy of science is possible without a prior analysis of both 

 philosophy and science. But these terms, unfortunately, 

 have had a long history and a variety of meanings. Further- 

 more, if there is any uniformity at all noticeable in the 

 historical uses of these words, it is such as to establish the 

 essential opposition or antagonism of the two notions, and 

 hence would compel one to conclude that the philosophy of 

 science is a contradiction in terms. The fact seems to be, 

 however, that the difficulties experienced in the attempts to 

 define "philosophy" and "science," and the apparent in- 

 compatibility of the two terms, are themselves the main 

 factors which are responsible for the emergence of the 

 philosophy of science. Because of the heated controversy 

 over the precise demarcations of these two fields, there arises 

 a discipline whose precise task is the determination of such 

 boundaries. 



This fact determines the approach to the definition of the 

 philosophy of science which will be made in the present 

 chapter and the one which follows. A brief consideration of 

 the historical problem will serve to introduce the thesis that 

 the terms are rival claimants to knowledge. The outstanding 

 attempts of recent and contemporary writers to eliminate 

 this antagonism by assigning to each of the disciplines a 

 certain type of subject matter or a certain type of method 

 will then be examined. Each of these attempts will be 

 briefly criticized with a view to determining what essential 

 truth it contains. The ground will then be prepared for the 

 positive attempt, in Chapter II, to construct a definition 

 of the philosophy of science. 



HISTORICAL APPROACH 



History seems to justify the conclusion that the term 

 'philosophy' in early Greek thought was relevant to no 



