Styles of reasoning, scientific practices and historical epistemology

a proposal to articulate the history and philosophy of science

Abstract

It is analyzed, from a philosophical view, to what extent the styles of scientific reasoning (ssr), proposed by the philosopher Ian Hacking are, in his words, relevant conceptual tools for historians and philosophers. In other words, it will be questioned whether the ssr itself becomes a resource that allows the integration of the history of science with the philosophy of science. This could be the case if we take seriously the criticism that the sociologist Martin Kusch has made of the ssr perspective, arguing that these are a project of Historical Epistemology (he), although he understands it from a theoretical perspective, which leaves aside, to a large extent, a reflection on the role played by scientific practices in epistemological inquiry. In this way, it will be argued in favor of the fact that the SSR are a resource to articulate history with the philosophy of the sciences (they are the basis of an he), as long as they are understood as a set of practices that originates, entrenches and unfolds throughout the history of the scientific enterprise. Consequently, the he that is defended here is an epistemology that takes practical knowledge as one of its bases.