The life sciences and the history of analytic philosophy.
Analytic philosophy
Evolutionism
Logical empiricism
Russell
Schlick
Stebbing
Journal
History and philosophy of the life sciences
ISSN: 1742-6316
Titre abrégé: Hist Philos Life Sci
Pays: Switzerland
ID NLM: 8003052
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
01 Aug 2024
01 Aug 2024
Historique:
received:
02
12
2023
accepted:
24
06
2024
medline:
1
8
2024
pubmed:
1
8
2024
entrez:
1
8
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Comparative to the commonplace focus onto developments in mathematics and physics, the life sciences appear to have received relatively sparse attention within the early history of analytic philosophy. This paper addresses two related aspects of this phenomenon. On the one hand, it asks: to the extent that the significance of the life sciences was indeed downplayed by early analytic philosophers, why was this the case? An answer to this question may be found in Bertrand Russell's 1914 discussions of the relation between biology and philosophy. Contrary to received views of the history of analytic philosophy, Russell presented his own 'logical atomism' in opposition not only to British Idealism, but also to 'evolutionism'. On the other hand, I will question whether this purported neglect of the life sciences does indeed accurately characterise the history of analytic philosophy. In answering this, I turn first to Susan Stebbing's criticisms of Russell's overlooking of biology, her influence on J.H. Woodger, and her critical discussion of T.H. Huxley's and C.H. Waddington's application of evolutionary views to philosophical questions. I then discuss the case of Moritz Schlick, whose evolutionist philosophy has been overlooked within recent debates concerning Logical Empiricism's relation to the philosophy of biology.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39088079
doi: 10.1007/s40656-024-00622-w
pii: 10.1007/s40656-024-00622-w
doi:
Types de publication
Historical Article
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
27Informations de copyright
© 2024. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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