The Humanistic Background of Science

Philipp Frank

Description

Philipp Frank (1884–1966) was an influential philosopher of science, public intellectual, and Harvard educator whose last book, The Humanistic Background of Science, is finally available. Never published in his lifetime, this original manuscript has been edited and introduced to highlight Frank's remarkable but little-known insights about the nature of modern science—insights that rival those of Karl Popper and Frank's colleagues Thomas Kuhn and James Bryant Conant. As a leading exponent of logical empiricism and a member of the famous Vienna Circle, Frank intended his book to provide an accessible, engaging introduction to the philosophy of science and its cultural significance. The book is steadfastly true to science; to aspirations of peace, unity, and human flourishing after World War II; and to the pragmatic philosophies of Charles S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey that Frank embraced in his new American home. Amidst the many recent surveys and retrospective analyses of midcentury philosophy of science, The Humanistic Background of Science offers an original, first-hand view of Frank's post-European life and of intellectual dramas then unfolding in Chicago, New York City, and Boston.
List of Illustrations
Chronology of Philipp Frank's Life
Philipp Frank: A Crusader for Scientific Philosophy

Part I

Chapter 1. Introduction: Science, Facts, and Values
1. Science and Poetry
2. Charges against the Monopoly of Science
3. Twentieth-Century Science and Philosophy
4. The "Real World" Is Not Describable
5. The Humanities Are Trailing behind the Natural Sciences
6. The "Special Sciences" Don't Exhaust "Science"
7. Semantic and Pragmatic Components of Science
8. Philosophical Schools Woo the Support of Science
9. Principles of Science and Human "Values"

Chapter 2. The Longing for a Humanization of Science
1. Dissatisfaction with Nineteenth-Century Science
2. Emerson on the Changing Role of Science
3. Lord Herbert Samuel for Modern Science
4. Dehumanization of Science
5. Soviet Philosophy and Modern Science
6. The Birth of Modern Science Was the Birth of Dissatisfaction
7. Bacon on the Copernican System
8. How Science Has Been "Humanized"
9. Analogies as Humanizing Elements
10. "Humanization," "Metaphysics" and the "Inner Eye"
11. Metaphysics, Common Sense, and the Inner Eye
12. The Nature of Metaphysical Statements
13. The Inner Eye and Intuition

Chapter 3. Metaphysical Interpretations of Science
1. The Founder of Pragmatism on Science and Philosophy
2. Peirce's Conception of Philosophy
3. Metaphysics Nearer to Common Sense than Science
4. The Purpose of Metaphysical Interpretation
5. Metaphysics as Science
6. The Laws of Physics and Their Metaphysical Interpretation
7. How Scientists Have Interpreted Their Own Theories

Chapter 4. The Sociology of Metaphysical Interpretations
1. Can Science Be "Purged" of Philosophy?
2. Science and Chance Philosophies
3. The Attitudes of Scientists and Authorities
4. The Battle of Worldviews
5. Purging Physics and Metaphysics
6. Science and Reality
7. Max Planck and the Real World
8. Meanings and Examples of "Real"
9. Sociological Role of "Reality"
10. "Reality" in Soviet Philosophy

Chapter 5. Philosophy of Science and Political Ideology
1. Sociology of Knowledge
2. The General Sense of Ideology
3. Mannheim, Ideology, and Sociology of Knowledge
4. Forms of Social Influence
5. Facts and Interpretation
6. Sociology of Science
7. Social Class and Social Situation
8. The Solution to the Puzzle

Chapter 6. Sociology of Science and the Search for a Democratic Metaphysics
1. Validation and Theory Building
2. Science as a Compromise between Technology and Political Philosophy
3. The Scientific Conscience
4. Philosophical Interpretations and Democracy
5. The Physical and the Socio-cosmic Universe

Part II

Chapter 7. Scholastic Philosophy and Thomism
1. The Meanings of Rational and Intelligible
2. The Role of Philosophical Schools
3. Science and "Thomism"
4. The Thomistic Theory of Matter
5. The Social Significance of Thomistic Philosophy
6. On Angels and Genuine Laws
7. Thomism and Physical Laws
8. Analogical and Scientific Thinking

Chapter 8. The Physical Universe as a Symbol
1. The Moral Universe
2. Physical Science in the Bible
3. The Physical Universe and Human Behavior
4. Scholastic "Scientism" and Modern "Positivism"
5. Shifting the Problem to Revelation
6. Realism and Nominalism
7. The Situation in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Chapter 9. Union, Divorce, and Reunion between Science and Philosophy
1. Science and Philosophy in the British and Soviet Encyclopedias
2. "Truce" through a Naturalization of Science
3. Attempts at a Reunion by a Positive Philosophy
4. The Role of "Sociology" in Positive Philosophy
5. The "Truth" of General Principles in Positive Philosophy
6. The Rel

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Épistémologie
• Éthique et morale
• Ethique et morale
• 20th century
• Philosophy of science
• Pragmatism
• Epistémologie
• Epistémologie
• Epistémologie

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438485539
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Humanistic Background of Science
SUNY series in American Philosophy and Cultural Thought

Randall E. Auxier and John R. Shook, editors

A letter, found in Philipp Frank’s papers, about the manuscript for The Humanistic Background of Science . Image courtesy of Harvard University Archives.
The Humanistic Background of Science
Philipp Frank
Edited by George A. Reisch and Adam Tamas Tuboly
Cover, The Unicorn is in Captivity and No Longer Dead , one of the series of seven tapestries The Hunt of the Unicorn circa 1495 and circa 1505. Gift of John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. (January 29, 1874–May 11, 1960), 1937.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Frank, Philipp, author. | Reisch, George A., editor. | Tuboly, Adam Tamas, editor.
Title: The humanistic background of science / by Philipp Frank ; edited by George A. Reisch and Adam Tamas Tuboly.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021] | Series: SUNY series in American philosophy and cultural thought | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021030164 (print) | LCCN 2021030165 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438485515 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438485539 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Science—Philosophy. | Science and the humanities. | Frank, Philipp, 1884–1966.
Classification: LCC Q175 .F779 2021 (print) | LCC Q175 (ebook) | DDC 501—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021030164
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021030165
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations
Chronology of Philipp Frank’s Life
Philipp Frank: A Crusader for Scientific Philosophy
Part I
Chapter 1. Introduction: Science, Facts, and Values
1. Science and Poetry
2. Charges against the Monopoly of Science
3. Twentieth-Century Science and Philosophy
4. The “Real World” Is Not Describable
5. The Humanities Are Trailing behind the Natural Sciences
6. The “Special Sciences” Don’t Exhaust “Science”
7. Semantic and Pragmatic Components of Science
8. Philosophical Schools Woo the Support of Science
9. Principles of Science and Human “Values”
Chapter 2. The Longing for a Humanization of Science
1. Dissatisfaction with Nineteenth-Century Science
2. Emerson on the Changing Role of Science
3. Lord Herbert Samuel for Modern Science
4. Dehumanization of Science
5. Soviet Philosophy and Modern Science
6. The Birth of Modern Science Was the Birth of Dissatisfaction
7. Bacon on the Copernican System
8. How Science Has Been “Humanized”
9. Analogies as Humanizing Elements
10. “Humanization,” “Metaphysics” and the “Inner Eye”
11. Metaphysics, Common Sense, and the Inner Eye
12. The Nature of Metaphysical Statements
13. The Inner Eye and Intuition
Chapter 3. Metaphysical Interpretations of Science
1. The Founder of Pragmatism on Science and Philosophy
2. Peirce’s Conception of Philosophy
3. Metaphysics Nearer to Common Sense than Science
4. The Purpose of Metaphysical Interpretation
5. Metaphysics as Science
6. The Laws of Physics and Their Metaphysical Interpretation
7. How Scientists Have Interpreted Their Own Theories
Chapter 4. The Sociology of Metaphysical Interpretations
1. Can Science Be “Purged” of Philosophy?
2. Science and Chance Philosophies
3. The Attitudes of Scientists and Authorities
4. The Battle of Worldviews
5. Purging Physics and Metaphysics
6. Science and Reality
7. Max Planck and the Real World
8. Meanings and Examples of “Real”
9. Sociological Role of “Reality”
10. “Reality” in Soviet Philosophy
Chapter 5. Philosophy of Science and Political Ideology
1. Sociology of Knowledge
2. The General Sense of Ideology
3. Mannheim, Ideology, and Sociology of Knowledge
4. Forms of Social Influence
5. Facts and Interpretation
6. Sociology of Science
7. Social Class and Social Situation
8. The Solution to the Puzzle
Chapter 6. Sociology of Science and the Search for a Democratic Metaphysics
1. Validation and Theory Building
2. Science as a Compromise between Technology and Political Philosophy
3. The Scientific Conscience
4. Philosophical Interpretations and Democracy
5. The Physical and the Socio-cosmic Universe
Part II
Chapter 7. Scholastic Philosophy and Thomism
1. The Meanings of Rational and Intelligible
2. The Role of Philosophical Schools
3. Science and “Thomism”
4. The Thomistic Theory of Matter
5. The Social Significance of Thomistic Philosophy
6. On Angels and Genuine Laws
7. Thomism and Physical Laws
8. Analogical and Scientific Thinking
Chapter 8. The Physical Universe as a Symbol
1. The Moral Universe
2. Physical Science in the Bible
3. The Physical Universe and Human Behavior
4. Scholastic “Scientism” and Modern “Positivism”
5. Shifting the Problem to Revelation
6. Realism and Nominalism
7. The Situation in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Chapter 9. Union, Divorce, and Reunion between Science and Philosophy
1. Science and Philosophy in the British and Soviet Encyclopedias
2. “Truce” through a Naturalization of Science
3. Attempts at a Reunion by a Positive Philosophy
4. The Role of “Sociology” in Positive Philosophy
5. The “Truth” of General Principles in Positive Philosophy
6. The Relative Truth of Theories
7. Positive Philosophy and Marginal Metaphysics
8. Science and Philosophy after the Reunion
9. The Name “Philosophy” as a Challenge
Chapter 10. Science, Democracy, and the New Wave of Positivism
1. Science after the French Revolution
2. Positivism in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century (Stallo)
3. Positivism in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century (Mach)
4. The Reception of Mach and Stallo?
5. Conventionalism (Poincaré, Le Roy)
6. Abel Rey and the Bankruptcy of Science
7. Duhem’s Accommodation of Positivism and Metaphysics
Chapter 11. The Vienna Circle: Moritz Schlick, Rudolf Carnap, and Otto Neurath
1. The Turning Point in Positivism
2. Logical Positivism and the Theory of Correspondence
3. Philosophy as Activity and the Unified Picture
4. Cross-connections among the Sciences
5. Changes in the Science of Meaning
6. The Vienna Circle and the Pragmatics of Metaphysics
7. Cognitive Significance and Scientific Value
Chapter 12. Pragmatism
1. Pragmatism (William James, Charles S. Peirce, and John Dewey)
2. Peirce’s Pragmatism and Positivism
3. James’s Pragmatism and Metaphysics
4. Dewey and Political Interpretations of Science
5. A New Development: Scientific Empiricism
6. The Meaning and Significance of Bridgman’s Operationalism
7. Nagel’s Contextualistic Naturalism
Chapter 13. Mechanistic and Dialectical Materialism
1. Mechanistic Materialism
2. La Mettrie’s Materialism
3. Purposiveness in Nature
4. Materialism Refuted?
5. Materialism versus Positivism
6. Soviet Attacks against Positivism
7. The Conversion of Mass and “Star-Spangled” Operationalism
Chapter 14. The Laws and Politics of Dialectical Materialism
1. Dialectical versus Mechanistic Materialism
2. Diamat and Philosophy
3. Diamat and Realism
4. The Dialectical Laws
5. Quantitative and Qualitative Changes
6. Social Change and Natural Science
Conclusion: Einstein’s Philosophy of Science
1. The Positivistic Basis
2. The Metaphysical Basis
3. The Analogical-Religious Basis
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
Figure I.1 The young Philipp Frank, taken presumably in the 1910s, as depicted on his carte de visite.
Figure I.2 In the woods of Czechoslovakia, Philipp Frank sits second from the right.
Figure I.3 The Fifth Meeting of the German Physicists and Mathematicians, with Philipp Frank standing fourth from the left.
Figure I.4 Philipp Frank, Rudolf Carnap, Susan Stebbing, Heinrich Neider, Carl G. Hempel, Eva Hempel, Jørgen Jørgensen, and Uuno Saarnio (likely photographed in the Belgian Ardennes, 1935).
Figure I.5 Brochure advertising Frank’s American lecture series, October–November 1938.
Figure I.6 Philipp Frank and Rudolf Carnap in America.
Figure I.7 Undated photograph of Philipp and Hania Frank presiding at a “Vienna Coffee House” at their home in Cambridge.
Figure I.8 Philipp Frank and P. W. Bridgman’s joint retirement conference, 1954.
Figure I.9 A representative page from Philipp Frank’s manuscript.
Chronology of Philipp Frank’s Life
1884 Born on March 20, 1884 in Vienna, Austro-Hungary.
1902–1903 Enrolled at the University of Vienna (Winter Semester).
1906 Defended his PhD dissertation at the University of Vienna, “On the Criteria of Stability of the Motion of a Material Point and its Relation to the Principle of Least Action.”
1907–1912 Participated in an informal discussion group, the “First Vienna Circle,” with Hans Hahn and Otto Neurath in Viennese coffeehouses.
1909 Defended Habilitation thesis at the University of Vienna.
1910–1912 Privatdozent at the University of Vienna.
1912–1938 Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Department of Physics, German University of Prague; in time he became the head of the Department and developed a flourishing institute.
1928 Lectured in the Soviet Union
1929 Organized the first conference on Erkenntnislehre der exakten Wissenschaften (Epistemology of the Exact Sciences), Sept. 15–17, 1929.
1924–1936 Participated occasionally in meetings of the Vienna Circle