Question about Continental Philosophy

[dgswaim]

I was wondering if anyone out there has any reading suggestions on continental thinkers in philosophy of science. I've been looking at some stuff by Husserl (Crisis of European Sciences and Ideas) and some stuff by Gary Gutting. Any other suggestions? I don't know all that much continental philosophy, and I'm trying to expand my knowledge base. Thanks!

 

[Billy Goehring]

It's not my field! But I was pretty impressed by Bruno Latour's Science in Action. Everything I've read about Catherine Malabou has been pretty stellar. Jean Cavaillès's On the Logic and Theory of Science, as well. Lastly, I've heard good things about Georges Canguilhem--I haven't read him myself, but some people I trust recommend him.

 

Sorry if this list is too French--I have a pretty strong stomach for French philosophy (since it's my AOS), but I realize that a lot of people have no patience for it. For what it's worth, I think these books are worth putting up with the dense (so-called "obscurantist") language. 

 

And while we're at it, do you have any good recommendations for more mainstream philosophy of science? I've read many of the classics (Popper, Feyerabend, Hacking, Kuhn, Lakatos) and a bit of the history of science (viz the history of biology and geology), but I'm pretty much in the dark as to what analytic philosophers are talking about right now vis à vis science.

[Weltgeist]

If you are interested in philosophy of social science, The Positivist Dispute in German Sociology is a good collection. It's an extended and thorough dialogue between Adorno, Habermas, Popper among others on the nature of social science.

[dgswaim]

It's not my field! But I was pretty impressed by Bruno Latour's Science in Action. Everything I've read about Catherine Malabou has been pretty stellar. Jean Cavaillès's On the Logic and Theory of Science, as well. Lastly, I've heard good things about Georges Canguilhem--I haven't read him myself, but some people I trust recommend him.

 

Sorry if this list is too French--I have a pretty strong stomach for French philosophy (since it's my AOS), but I realize that a lot of people have no patience for it. For what it's worth, I think these books are worth putting up with the dense (so-called "obscurantist") language. 

 

And while we're at it, do you have any good recommendations for more mainstream philosophy of science? I've read many of the classics (Popper, Feyerabend, Hacking, Kuhn, Lakatos) and a bit of the history of science (viz the history of biology and geology), but I'm pretty much in the dark as to what analytic philosophers are talking about right now vis à vis science.

Thanks for the recommendations. I've heard only good things about Malabou, in particular, though I've never read any of her work. I've been meaning to look at her The Future of Hegel for a while now, but I haven't gotten around to it. Also, I don't mind French thinkers too much, cumbersome as they are for me to read. I just do my best to plow through and hope something sticks. Such is the plight of the uninitiated. 

 

As to what's happening right now in mainstream analytic work on phil science, it's hard to say. Analytic philosophy of science is very article driven, so whatever's being published in the major journals is what's happening in the mainstream, and that can be pretty hard to keep up with on a consistent basis. As for book-length treatments and monographs, there's definitely some cool stuff out there. I'll limit my suggestions to books that are in some way related to the phil science stuff that I do (mostly philosophy of biology and metaphysics/epistemology). Some of these are books written by scientists that may as well be called philosophy of science.

 

I'm limiting this to things published since around 2005:

 

Every Thing Must Go, by James Ladyman and Don Ross

Darwinism and Its Discontents, by Michael Ruse

Personal Agency, by E.J. Lowe

Life's Solution, by Simon Conway Morris

Metaphysics of Science, edited by Stephen Mumford and Matthew Tugby

The Believing Primate, edited by Jeffrey Schloss and Michael Murray

What Darwin Got Wrong, by Jerry Fodor and the other guy whose name I can't remember

Evolution: A View from the 21st Century, by Jim Shapiro

The Extended Synthesis, edited by Massimo Pigliucci

 

My favorite book in recent history on the subject of philosophy of science and biology, though, is a volume of essays called  Beyond Mechanism: Putting Life Back into Biology. It's a bit pricey, but worth the pain, I think.

[The Pedanticist]

I was wondering if anyone out there has any reading suggestions on continental thinkers in philosophy of science. I've been looking at some stuff by Husserl (Crisis of European Sciences and Ideas) and some stuff by Gary Gutting. Any other suggestions? I don't know all that much continental philosophy, and I'm trying to expand my knowledge base. Thanks!

 

I would suggest checking out Patrick Heelan and Joseph Kockelmans.  You might also look at Joseph Rouse's work.  He does sort of a hermeneutic take on science using the early work of Heidegger. 

 

You've probably already done a lot with some of the historical figures in the tradition, but have you read much Babich?  She mostly works on Neitzsche, Heidegger, Hodderlin and Adorno.  But her work seems quite decent.  

 

Also, Henri Bergson wrote the Blackwell book on continental philosophy of science, and those are always good too.

 

Another more "fun" and generally informative resource you might checkout is the International Society for Hermeneutics of Science.  They have a number of other publications, bios and information sources that can be useful.

Edited August 2, 2014 by The Pedanticist

[dgswaim]

I have a long-standing love affair with the work of Henri Bergson. 

[The Pedanticist]

I have a long-standing love affair with the work of Henri Bergson. 

 

I think I was slightly tired when I wrote the earlier post.  The work is, if I remember correctly, a compilation of readings from different authors Bergson being one. 

[dgswaim]

I think I was slightly tired when I wrote the earlier post.  The work is, if I remember correctly, a compilation of readings from different authors Bergson being one. 

You're probably thinking of the Blackwell volume that was edited by Gary Gutting. I've looked at parts of it, including Bergson's piece on metaphysics. 

[MorganFreemanlives]

I have a long-standing love affair with the work of Henri Bergson. 

i recommend Samuel Alexander's Space Time and Deity.

[surlefil]

I haven't read it myself, but there are some text on philosophy of science by Baudrillard, you should check that. And I agree with The Pedanticist, you could read something by Babette Babich.