Abstract

In this collection of essays, which is Volume 19 in the University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, Laudan examines, in a very engaging manner, the fortunes of the method of hypothesis in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Most of the essays have appeared elsewhere, but some are published here for the first time. Although there is no introductory or concluding essay that attempts to tie all of the articles together, this collection still succeeds in presenting itself as a unified examination of the important topic of the method of hypothesis. Laudan's expressed intent is to "identify some of the recurrent themes associated with debates about the method of hypothesis and to examine some of the specific causes for its changing fortunes". He does more in this collection than merely fulfill his rather modest intent. In each of his essays, Laudan succeeds in presenting both a clear statement of his particular theme and also a concise and often convincing argument for his particular interpretation of each theme concerning the history of the method of hypothesis.