John Forge

University College, London
  • A Role for Philosophy of Science in the Teaching of Science
    Journal of Philosophy of Education 13 (1): 109-117. 1979.
    J C Forge; A Role for Philosophy of Science in the Teaching of Science, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 13, Issue 1, 30 May 2006, Pages 109–117, http.
  •  3
    A Role for Philosophy of Science in the Teaching of Science
    Journal of Philosophy of Education 13 (1): 109-117. 1979.
    J C Forge; A Role for Philosophy of Science in the Teaching of Science, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 13, Issue 1, 30 May 2006, Pages 109–117, http.
  •  3
    A role for philosophy of science in the teaching of science
    Journal of Philosophy of Education 13 (1). 1979.
    J C Forge; A Role for Philosophy of Science in the Teaching of Science, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 13, Issue 1, 30 May 2006, Pages 109–117, http.
  •  3
    Reviews (review)
    with Greg Murrie, James Strick, Russell Blackford, Tamas Pataki, Dennis Georgakis, Andy Monk, Richard McDonough, Greg Wilby, R. W. Home, J. H. D. Amador, Jean Lachapelle, Anthony Corones, Adrienne Hallam, Emily Booth, David Oldroyd, James Franklin, William A. S. Sarjeant, Stewart Russell, Vladimir B. Popescu, Andrew Oakley, Roderick D. Buchanan, David Branagan, Tamara Kohn, and James Maffie
    Metascience 6 (2): 71-171. 1997.
  •  13
    This book addresses the morality of engaging in weapons research, a topic that has been neglected but which is extremely important. It is argued that this activity is both morally wrong and morally unjustifiable, and this implies that moral persons should not engage in it. The argument is not based on any pacifist assumptions: it is not assumed that neither individuals nor states should not defend themselves. What is wrong with weapons research is that it is the first step in the production of w…Read more
  •  38
    Review symposia
    with Martin Rudwick, Naomi Oreskes, David Oldroyd, David Philip Miller, Alan Chalmers, David Turnbull, Peter Slezak, David Bloor, Craig Callender, Keith Hutchison, Steven Savitt, and Huw Price
    Metascience 5 (1): 7-85. 1996.
  •  7
    What you see ain't what you get: more quantum measurement puzzles (review)
    Metascience 8 (2): 267-277. 1999.
  •  11
    What are the Moral Limits of Weapons Research?
    Philosophy in the Contemporary World 14 (1): 76-87. 2007.
    The paper tries to locate the moral limits of weapons research, an issue that comes about because weapons harm and unjustified harms are wrong.Doing research does not itself harm, so first it is shown that a means principle holds. Weapons research then needs to be justified, and two ways to do this arecanvassed, historical and a historical. The former takes account of the context in which the work is done and the circumstances the products used. It is arguedthat there can only be historical just…Read more
  •  11
    The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain
    In Martin Bridgstock (ed.), Science, Technology, and Society: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press. pp. 111. 1998.
  •  42
    The structure of physical explanation
    Philosophy of Science 47 (2): 203-226. 1980.
    Some features of physical science relevant for a discussion of physical explanation are mentioned. The D-N account of physical explanation is discussed, and it is seen to restrict the scope of explanation in physical science because it imposes the requirement that the explanandum must be deducible from the explanans. Analysis shows that an alternative view of scientific explanation, called the instance view, allows a wider range of physical explanations. The view is seen to be free from a certai…Read more
  •  17
    Theoretical functions in physical science
    Erkenntnis 21 (1). 1984.
    The aim of this paper is to give an account of theoreticity which captures the preanalytic conception of a theoretical function, which is precise and yet which expresses what is significant about theoretical functions. The point of departure for this account is a recent discussion of the topic by Balzer and Moulines. On the basis of criticism of this discussion and on the basis of an examination of laboratory measurement, an account of theoreticity is proposed.
  •  32
    What are the Moral Limits of Weapons Research?
    Philosophy in the Contemporary World 14 (1): 76-87. 2007.
    The paper tries to locate the moral limits of weapons research, an issue that comes about because weapons harm and unjustified harms are wrong.Doing research does not itself harm, so first it is shown that a means principle holds. Weapons research then needs to be justified, and two ways to do this arecanvassed, historical and a historical. The former takes account of the context in which the work is done and the circumstances the products used. It is arguedthat there can only be historical just…Read more
  •  4
    Towards a Theory of Models In Physical Science
    Philosophy Research Archives 8 321-338. 1982.
    The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the concept of model as it is applied in the physical sciences, and to show that this analysis is fruitful insofar as it can be used as an acceptable account of the role of models in physical explanation.A realist interpretation of theories is adopted as a point of departure. A distinction between theories and models is drawn on the basis of this interpretation. The relation between model and prototype is expressed in terms of the concepts o…Read more
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    Theoretical functions, theory and evidence
    Philosophy of Science 51 (3): 443-463. 1984.
    Glymour's account of confirmation is seen to have paradoxical consequences when applied to the confirmation of theories containing theoretical functions. An alternative conception of instances derived from Sneed's reconstruction of physical theories is conjoined with the instance view of confirmation to produce an account of confirmation that avoids these problems. The topic of selective confirmation is discussed, and it is argued that theories containing theoretical functions are not selectivel…Read more
  •  41
    Science and the 'modern values of control'
    Metascience 9 (3): 326-333. 2000.
    This is a challenging book and it addresses important questions. This review has focused on what I think is the most important question of all: just what is the relationship between the ‘strategies’ which drive modern science and the social values which guide the societies we live in. I have much sympathy with the way in which Lacey tries to answer this question and how he tries to open up alternative possibilities and give us a view of the future which is not just a continuing catalogue of envi…Read more
  •  5
    The Responsible Scientist: A Philosophical Inquiry
    University of Pittsburgh Press. 2008.
    When Fat Boy, the first atomic bomb was detonated at Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1945, moral responsibility in science was forever thrust into the forefront of philosophical debate. The culmination of the famed Manhattan Project, which employed many of the world's best scientific minds, was a singular event that signaled a new age of science for power and profit and the monumental responsibility that these actions entailed. Today, the drive for technological advances in areas such as pharmaceutica…Read more
  •  20
    The instance theory of explanation
    Australasian Journal of Philosophy 64 (2). 1986.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  17
    Science in a Democratic Society
    Metascience 12 (2): 217-219. 2003.
  •  30
    By using the concept of a uniformity, the Structuralists have given us a most useful means of representing approximations. In the second section of this paper, I have made use of this technique to show how we can deal with errors of measurement — imprecise explananda — in the context of theoretical explanation. As well as (I hope) providing further demonstration of the power of the Structuralist approach, this also serves to support the ontic conception of explanation by showing that it can help…Read more
  •  64
    The morality of weapons research
    Science and Engineering Ethics 10 (3): 531-542. 2004.
    I ask whether weapons research is ever justified. Weapons research is identified as the business of the engineer. It is argued that the engineer has responsibility for the uses to which the tools that he designs can be put, and that responsibility extends to the use of weapons. It is maintained that there are no inherently defensive weapons, and hence there is no such thing as ‘defensive’ weapons research. The issue then is what responsibilities as a professional the engineer has in regard to su…Read more
  •  48
    Theoretical explanation in physical science
    Erkenntnis 23 (3). 1985.
    An account of physical explanation derived from the instance view of scientific explanation is outlined, and it is shown that this account does not cover explanations by theories which contain theoretical functions. An alternative account, also derived from the instance view, is proposed on the basis of Sneed's account of theories. It is shown that this account does cover theoretical explanations. Finally, it is shown that this account can accommodate explananda that record errors of measurement…Read more
  •  13
    Sharp and Blunt Values
    Science & Education 12 (5): 479-493. 2003.
  •  30
    Tales of Schrödinger’s cat
    Metascience 7 (1): 151-166. 1998.