Volume 62, 2018
Philosophy of Science
Rodolfo Gaeta, Nélida Gentile, Susana Lucero
Pages 49-53
On The Trouble with the Historical Philosophy of Science
The philosophy of science developed since the second half of the 20th century has included naturalized perspectives. Kuhn, Feyerabend and followers of the Strong Programme have claimed a role for History and Sociology. But to privilege the historical and sociological issues could precipitate the philosophy of science into a self-destructive relativism. Kuhn’s ideas on the relationship between philosophy and history of science have produced lasting effects in discrediting traditional philosophies of science. In this paper we focus on the tensions shown in the evolution of Kuhn’s thinking and we point out, among other difficulties, some fundamental inconsistencies at a metahistorical and meta-philosophical level.