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Mind, Society, and the Growth of Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Paul Thagard
Paul Thagard*
Affiliation:
Philosophy Department, University of Waterloo
*
‡Send reprint requests to the author, Philosophy Department, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada.
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Abstract

Explanations of the growth of scientific knowledge can be characterized in terms of logical, cognitive, and social schemas. But cognitive and social schemas are complementary rather than competitive, and purely social explanations of scientific change are as inadequate as purely cognitive explanations. For example, cognitive explanations of the chemical revolution must be supplemented by and combined with social explanations, and social explanations of the rise of the mechanical worldview must be supplemented by and combined with cognitive explanations. Rational appraisal of cognitive and social strategies for improving knowledge should appreciate the interdependence of mind and society.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 61 , Issue 4 , December 1994 , pp. 629 - 645
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1994

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Footnotes

†

Thanks to Paul Rusnock, Cameron Shelley, Miriam Solomon, and Jim van Evra for comments on an earlier draft, and to Kathleen Gorman for research assistance. This work is supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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