CHAPTER II 



PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 



In the last chapter consideration was given to some of 

 the attempts which have been made in recent years to 

 "save" philosophy from the encroachment of science. In 

 each case, the resolution of the conflict was presumed to 

 lie in some apportioning of the intellectual task to the sep- 

 arate disciplines either on the grounds of method or on the 

 grounds of subject matter. It was maintained, for example, 

 that science talks only about certain types of natural entity 

 and leaves all others to philosophy. Or science talks about 

 natural entities through the medium of a certain type of 

 method and leaves alternative approaches to philosophy. 

 In all cases the presumed reconciliation lies in a precise 

 delimitation of the respective fields. 



EMERGENCE OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 



The emergence in recent years of a new discipline called 

 "the philosophy of science'' was occasioned, I believe, by 

 three factors. One was the recognition of the obviously 

 temporary character of this presumed reconciliation between 

 science and philosophy. A second was the appearance, 

 within science itself, of certain inconsistencies, which com- 

 pelled it to become self-critical. A third was the claim on 

 the part of science that it had the right to legislate over 

 all features of the individual life. Each of these may be 

 examined briefly. 



The unfortunate character of the type of reconciliation 

 suggested in the preceding chapter is that it can be, at best, 

 only temporary. Inevitably questions arise either as to the 

 importance of the respective disciplines, or as to the legit- 

 imacy of the type of problem which the one or the other 



discipline is called upon to answer. The view that science 



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