Abstract

The last twenty-five years have seen a major shift in the philosophy of science, from a focus on the logical syntax of the language of science to attempts, based often on detailed historical research, to understand the development of scientific accounts of the world. The once “Received View” of logical empiricism assumed the adequacy of an analysis of scientific knowledge in terms of interpreted logical systems. The limitations of logic as a framework for analysis of the language of science became apparent for what one might call internal and external reasons. Internally, the attempt to formalize the logical syntax of science led to the emergence to view of fundamental problems with the logical construal of laws and with the concept of confirmation.