Premium
Chicken Soup for the Out‐of‐Step Scholar's Soul
Author(s) -
Callahan Gene,
Leeson Peter T.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2012.00858.x
Subject(s) - soul , fragility , epistemology , philosophy , scientific method , sociology , aesthetics , social science , chemistry
This paper argues that the long‐standing predominance of a particular approach to science neither makes it uniquely scientific nor superior to rival approaches. To do so it examines the dominant scientific explanation of the 17 th and early 18 th centuries: the mechanical philosophy. The mechanical philosophy episode demonstrates the fragility of even the most entrenched scientific wisdoms and provides encouragement for out‐of‐step scholars everywhere.