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53The strong programme for the sociology of science, reflexivity and relativismInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 33 (3). 1990.David Bloor has advocated a bold hypothesis about the form any sociology of science should take in setting out the four central tenets of his ?strong programme? (SP). The first section of this paper discusses how three of these tenets are best formulated and how they relate to one another. The second section discusses how reasons can be causes of belief and how such reasons raise a serious difficulty for SP. The third section discusses how SP is committed to a form of relativism about truth. The…Read more
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71Ramsification, reference fixing and incommensurabilityIn Paul Hoyningen-Huene & Howard Sankey (eds.), Incommensurability and Related Matters, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 91--121. 2001.
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60Post‐modernism, a French cultural Chernobyl: Foucault on power/knowledgeInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 37 (1). 1994.Foucault appears to challenge traditional views of truth, reason, and knowledge in the doctrine of power/knowledge developed in his post?1970 writings. This doctrine applies to all the sciences (and to non?scientific and non?discursive practices that are not discussed here). Foucault's notions of discourse (1) and power (3) are sufficiently discussed to set out his explanatory theory of the cause of our discourses and their change. In (4) three theses concerning the power/knowledge link are dist…Read more
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2The Optimistic Meta-Induction and Ontological Continuity: The Case of the ElectronIn Lena Soler, Howard Sankey & Paul Hoyningen-Huene (eds.), Rethinking Scientific Change and Theory Comparison: Stabilities, Ruptures, Incommensurabilities?, Springer. 2008.
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108Fixing the reference of theoretical termsPhilosophy of Science 47 (4): 505-531. 1980.Kripke and Putnam have proposed that terms may be introduced to refer to theoretical entities by means of causal descriptions such as 'whatever causes observable effects O'. It is argued that such a reference-fixing definition is ill-formed and that theoretical beliefs must be involved in fixing the reference of a theoretical term. Some examples of reference-fixing are discussed e.g., the term 'electricity'. The Kripke-Putnam theory can not give an account of how terms may be introduced into sci…Read more
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232Introducing the Canberra PlanIn David Braddon-Mitchell & Robert Nola (eds.), Conceptual Analysis and Philosophical Naturalism, Bradford. pp. 1--20. 2008.
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38Observation and Growth in Scientific KnowledgePSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1986. 1986.In the writings of scientists we find claim to the effect that we can observe items such as pulsars, gravity waves, quarks, electrons, etc. An epistemological theory, originally developed by Dretske and modified by Jackson, is used to give an account of such claims and the extent to which they may be deemed correct. The theory eschews talk of the theory-ladenness of observation while giving an account of how our observation reports may evolve with growth in scientific knowledge. The theory is pa…Read more
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53Knowledge, discourse, power and genealogy in FoucaultCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 1 (2): 109-154. 1998.
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5Review of Gerard Radnitzky and Gunnar Andersson: The Structure and Development of Science (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 35 (2): 184-188. 1984.
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1Review of Hilary Putnam: Meaning and the Moral Sciences (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 31 (1): 91-97. 1980.
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70Nietzsche as Anti-Semitic Jewish Conspiracy TheoristCroatian Journal of Philosophy 3 (1): 35-62. 2003.Despite his strong objections to anti-Semitism, it will be argued that Nietzsche held a curious conspiracy theory about the Jews that is uniquely his own. Modern Jews, he declared, had the power to have mastery over Europe. And Ancient Jews exercised a remarkable power of self-preservation when they got others to accept the slave morality of Christianity. The second claim is shown to have a setting in Nietzsche’s own theory of the genealogy of morals. But it is argued that that theory is defecti…Read more