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1101Sensory Measurements: Coordination and StandardizationBiological Theory 10 (3): 200-211. 2015.Do sensory measurements deserve the label of “measurement”? We argue that they do. They fit with an epistemological view of measurement held in current philosophy of science, and they face the same kinds of epistemological challenges as physical measurements do: the problem of coordination and the problem of standardization. These problems are addressed through the process of “epistemic iteration,” for all measurements. We also argue for distinguishing the problem of standardization from the pro…Read more
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337Preservative realism and its discontents: Revisiting caloricPhilosophy of Science 70 (5): 902-912. 2003.A popular and plausible response against Laudan's “pessimistic induction” has been what I call “preservative realism,” which argues that there have actually been enough elements of scientific knowledge preserved through major theory‐change processes, and that those elements can be accepted realistically. This paper argues against preservative realism, in particular through a critical review of Psillos's argument concerning the case of the caloric theory of heat. Contrary to his argument, the his…Read more
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302Scientific Progress: Beyond Foundationalism and CoherentismRoyal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 61 1-20. 2007.Scientific progress remains one of the most significant issues in the philosophy of science today. This is not only because of the intrinsic importance of the topic, but also because of its immense difficulty. In what sense exactly does science makes progress, and how is it that scientists are apparently able to achieve it better than people in other realms of human intellectual endeavour? Neither philosophers nor scientists themselves have been able to answer these questions to general satisfac…Read more
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281The Philosophical Grammar of Scientific PracticeInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 25 (3): 205-221. 2011.I seek to provide a systematic and comprehensive framework for the description and analysis of scientific practice—a philosophical grammar of scientific practice, ‘grammar’ as meant by the later Wittgenstein. I begin with the recognition that all scientific work, including pure theorizing, consists of actions, of the physical, mental, and ‘paper-and-pencil’ varieties. When we set out to see what it is that one actually does in scientific work, the following set of questions naturally emerge: who…Read more
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275Causality and realism in the EPR experimentErkenntnis 38 (2). 1993.We argue against the common view that it is impossible to give a causal account of the distant correlations that are revealed in EPR-type experiments. We take a realistic attitude about quantum mechanics which implies a willingness to modify our familiar concepts according to its teachings. We object to the argument that the violation of factorizability in EPR rules out causal accounts, since such an argument is at best based on the desire to retain a classical description of nature that consist…Read more
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247The absolute and its measurement; William Thomson on temperatureAnnals of Science 62 (3): 281-308. 2005.In this paper we give a full account of the work of William Thomson on absolute temperature, which to this day provides the theoretical underpinnings for the most rigorous measurements of temperature. When Thomson fashioned his concepts of ‘absolute’ temperature, his main concern was to make the definition of temperature independent of the properties of particular thermometric substances . He tried out a succession of definitions based on the thermodynamics of ideal heat engines; most notably, i…Read more
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247The Persistence of Epistemic Objects Through Scientific ChangeErkenntnis 75 (3): 413-429. 2011.Why do some epistemic objects persist despite undergoing serious changes, while others go extinct in similar situations? Scientists have often been careless in deciding which epistemic objects to retain and which ones to eliminate; historians and philosophers of science have been on the whole much too unreflective in accepting the scientists’ decisions in this regard. Through a re-examination of the history of oxygen and phlogiston, I will illustrate the benefits to be gained from challenging an…Read more
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234Contingent transcendental arguments for metaphysical principlesRoyal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 63 113-133. 2008.
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229Introduction: philosophy of science in practice (review)European Journal for Philosophy of Science 1 (3): 303-307. 2011.Introduction: philosophy of science in practice Content Type Journal Article Category Editorial Article Pages 303-307 DOI 10.1007/s13194-011-0036-4 Authors Rachel Ankeny, School of History & Politics, University of Adelaide, Napier Building, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia Hasok Chang, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge, CB2 3RH UK Marcel Boumans, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam…Read more
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225A Case for Old‐Fashioned Observability, and a Reconstructed Constructive EmpiricismPhilosophy of Science 72 (5): 876-887. 2005.I develop a concept of observability that pertains to qualities rather than objects: a quality is observable if it can be registered by human sensation (possibly with the aid of instruments) without involving optional interpretations. This concept supports a better description of observations in science and everyday life than the object-based observability concepts presupposing causal information-transfer from the object to the observer. It also allows a rehabilitation of the traditional empiric…Read more
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216What can we conclude from a mere handful of case studies? The field of HPS has witnessed too many hasty philosophical generalizations based on a small number of conveniently chosen case studies. One might even speculate that dissatisfaction with such methodological shoddiness contributed decisively to a widespread disillusionment with the whole HPS enterprise. Without specifying clear mechanisms for history-philosophy interaction, we are condemned to either making unwarranted generalizations fro…Read more
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206The quantum counter-revolution: Internal conflicts in scientific changeStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 26 (2): 121-136. 1995.Many of the experiments that produced the empirical basis of quantum mechanics relied on classical assumptions that contradicted quantum mechanics. Historically this did not cause practical problems, as classical mechanics was used mostly when it did not happen to diverge too much from quantum mechanics in the quantitative sense. That fortunate circumstances, however, did not alleviate the conceptual problems involved in understanding the classical experimental reasoning in quantum-mechanical te…Read more
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193Inventing Temperature: Measurement and Scientific ProgressOUP Usa. 2004.This book presents the concept of “complementary science” which contributes to scientific knowledge through historical and philosophical investigations. It emphasizes the fact that many simple items of knowledge that we take for granted were actually spectacular achievements obtained only after a great deal of innovative thinking, painstaking experiments, bold conjectures, and serious controversies. Each chapter in the book consists of two parts: a narrative part that states the philosophical pu…Read more
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185Is Water H2O? Evidence, Realism and PluralismBoston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science. 2012.This book exhibits deep philosophical quandaries and intricacies of the historical development of science lying behind a simple and fundamental item of common sense in modern science, namely the composition of water as H2O. Three main phases of development are critically re-examined, covering the historical period from the 1760s to the 1860s: the Chemical Revolution, early electrochemistry, and early atomic chemistry. In each case, the author concludes that the empirical evidence available at th…Read more
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181Hasok Chang. 2012. Is Water H2O? Evidence, Realism and PluralismTheoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 28 (2): 331-334. 2013.
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168Historians often feel that standard philosophical doctrines about the nature and development of science are not adequate for representing the real history of science. However, when philosophers of science fail to make sense of certain historical events, it is also possible that there is something wrong with the standard historical descriptions of those events, precluding any sensible explanation. If so, philosophical failure can be useful as a guide for improving historiography, and this constit…Read more
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168How to take realism beyond foot-stampingPhilosophy 76 (1): 5-30. 2001.I propose a reformulation of realism, as the pursuit of ontological plausibility in our systems of knowledge. This is dubbed plausibility realism, for convenience of reference. Plausibility realism is non-empiricist, in the sense that it uses ontological plausibility as an independent criterion from empirical adequacy in evaluating systems of knowledge. Ontological plausibility is conceived as a precondition for intelligibility, nor for Truth; therefore, the function of plausibilty realism is to…Read more
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137A misunderstood rebellionStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 24 (5): 741-790. 1992.
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126Presentist History for Pluralist ScienceJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 52 (1): 97-114. 2020.Building on my previous writings on presentism, pluralism, and “complementary science”, I develop an activist view of historiography. I begin by recognizing the inevitability of presentism. Our own purposes and perspectives do and should guide the production of our accounts of the past; like funerals, history-writing is for the living. There are different kinds of presentist history, depending on the historians’ purposes and perspectives. My particular inclination is pluralist. Science remembers…Read more
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126Can planck's constant be measured with classical mechanics?International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 11 (3). 1997.An interesting case of the complex interaction between theory and experiment can be found in many experiments in quantum physics employing classical reasoning. It is expected that this practice would lead to quantitative inaccuracy, unless the measurements' results were averaged. Whether or not this inaccuracy is significant depends critically on the details of the particular experimental situation. The example of Millikan's photoelectric experiment, in which he obtained a precise value of Planc…Read more
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123Ontological principles and the intelligibility of epistemic activitiesIn Henk De Regt, Sabina Leonelli & Kai Eigner (eds.), Scientific Understanding: Philosophical Perspectives, University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 64--82. 2009.
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122VI—Operational Coherence as the Source of TruthProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 117 (2): 103-122. 2017.
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109Incommensurability: Revisiting the Chemical RevolutionIn Vasō Kintē & Theodore Arabatzis (eds.), Kuhn's The structure of scientific revolutions revisited, Routledge. pp. 153. 2012.
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108Contribution to a symposium on Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, Neither Physics nor Chemistry, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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107Realism for Realistic People: A New Pragmatist Philosophy of ScienceCambridge University Press. 2022.In this innovative book, Hasok Chang constructs a philosophy of science for 'realistic people' interested in understanding and promoting the actual practices of inquiry in science and other knowledge-focused areas of life. Inspired by pragmatist philosophy, he reconceives the very notions of reality and truth on the basis of his concept of the 'operational coherence' of epistemic activities, and offers new pragmatist conceptions of truth and reality as operational ideals achievable in actual sci…Read more
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100Introduction: systematicity, the nature of science?Synthese 196 (3): 761-773. 2019.Introduction to Synthese SI: Systematicity: The Nature of Science?
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96Acidity: The Persistence of the Everyday in the ScientificPhilosophy of Science 79 (5): 690-700. 2012.Acidity provides an interesting example of an everyday concept that developed fully into a scientific one; it is one of the oldest concepts in chemistry and remains an important one. However, up to now there has been no unity to it. Currently two standard theoretical definitions coexist ; the standard laboratory measure of acidity, namely the pH, only corresponds directly to the Br⊘nsted-Lowry concept. The lasting identity of the acidity concept in modern chemistry is based on the persistence of…Read more
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92The Chemical Revolution revisitedStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 49 91-98. 2015.
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Physical Science |
General Philosophy of Science |