Embodied Empiricism

Charles T. Wolfe, Ofer Gal

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

It was in 1660s England, according to the received view, in the meetings of the Royal Society of London, that science acquired the form of empirical enquiry that we recognize as our own: an open, collaborative experimental practice, mediated by specially-designed instruments, supported by civil, critical discourse, stressing accuracy and replicability. Guided by the philosophy of Francis Bacon, by Protestant ideas of this-worldly benevolence, by gentlemanly codes of decorum and integrity and by a dominant interest in mechanics and a conviction in the mechanical structure of the universe, the members of the Royal Society created a novel experimental practice that superseded all former modes of empirical inquiry – from Aristotelian observations to alchemical experimentation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationStudies in History and Philosophy of Science(Netherlands)
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media B.V.
Pages1-5
Number of pages5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2010
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameStudies in History and Philosophy of Science(Netherlands)
Volume25
ISSN (Print)1871-7381
ISSN (Electronic)2215-1958

Keywords

  • Early Modern Period
  • Experimental Philosophy
  • Receive View
  • Royal Society
  • Seventeenth Century

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • History
  • Philosophy
  • History and Philosophy of Science

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