%PDF-1.4
%
1 0 obj
<<
/Title (The Hidden History of Phlogiston: How Philosophical Failure Can Generate Historiographical Refinement)
/Author (Hasok Chang)
/Creator (PScript5.dll Version 5.2.2)
/ModDate (D:20130320020957+01'00')
/Subject (Historians often feel that standard philosophical doctrines about the nature and development of science are not adequate for representing the real history of science. However, when philosophers of science fail to make sense of certain historical events, it is also possible that there is something wrong with the standard historical descriptions of those events, precluding any sensible explanation. If so, philosophical failure can be useful as a guide for improving historiography, and this constitutes a significant mode of productive interaction between the history and the philosophy of science. I illustrate this methodological claim through the case of the Chemical Revolution. I argue that no standard philosophical theory of scientific method can explain why European chemists made a sudden and nearly unanimous switch of allegiance from the phlogiston theory to Lavoisiers theory. A careful re-examination of the history reveals that the shift was neither so quick nor so unanimous as imagined even by many historians. In closing I offer brief reflections on how best to explain the general drift toward Lavoisiers theory that did take place.)
/Keywords (Chemical Revolution; phlogiston; history and philosophy of science; scientific change; Lavoisier)
/Producer (Acrobat Distiller 5.0 \(Windows\))
/CreationDate (D:20101203031449+01'00')
/PXCViewerInfo (PDF-XChange Viewer;2.5.200.0;Dec 14 2011;19:59:08;D:20130320020957+01'00')
>>
endobj
2 0 obj
<<
/Type /Catalog
/Pages 3 0 R
/Metadata 4 0 R
/PageLabels 5 0 R
>>
endobj
3 0 obj
<<
/Kids [6 0 R 7 0 R 8 0 R 9 0 R]
/Type /Pages
/Count 33
>>
endobj
4 0 obj
<<
/Type /Metadata
/Length 5099
/Subtype /XML
>>
stream
Acrobat Distiller 5.0 (Windows)
2010-12-03T02:14:49Z
2013-03-20T02:09:57+01:00
2010-12-03T03:23:00+01:00
PScript5.dll Version 5.2.2
Hasok Chang
The Hidden History of Phlogiston: How Philosophical Failure Can Generate Historiographical Refinement
Historians often feel that standard philosophical doctrines about the nature and development of science are not adequate for representing the real history of science. However, when philosophers of science fail to make sense of certain historical events, it is also possible that there is something wrong with the standard historical descriptions of those events, precluding any sensible explanation. If so, philosophical failure can be useful as a guide for improving historiography, and this constitutes a significant mode of productive interaction between the history and the philosophy of science. I illustrate this methodological claim through the case of the Chemical Revolution. I argue that no standard philosophical theory of scientific method can explain why European chemists made a sudden and nearly unanimous switch of allegiance from the phlogiston theory to Lavoisier’s theory. A careful re-examination of the history reveals that the shift was neither so quick nor so unanimous as imagined even by many historians. In closing I offer brief reflections on how best to explain the general drift toward Lavoisier’s theory that did take place.
Chemical Revolution
phlogiston
history and philosophy of science
scientific change
Lavoisier
Copyright © 2010 by HYLE and Hasok Chang
True
http://www.hyle.org
endstream
endobj
5 0 obj
<<
/Nums [0 10 0 R]
>>
endobj
6 0 obj
<<
/Kids [11 0 R 12 0 R 13 0 R 14 0 R 15 0 R 16 0 R 17 0 R 18 0 R 19 0 R 20 0 R]
/Type /Pages
/Count 10
/Parent 3 0 R
>>
endobj
7 0 obj
<<
/Kids [21 0 R 22 0 R 23 0 R 24 0 R 25 0 R 26 0 R 27 0 R 28 0 R 29 0 R 30 0 R]
/Type /Pages
/Count 10
/Parent 3 0 R
>>
endobj
8 0 obj
<<
/Kids [31 0 R 32 0 R 33 0 R 34 0 R 35 0 R 36 0 R 37 0 R 38 0 R 39 0 R 40 0 R]
/Type /Pages
/Count 10
/Parent 3 0 R
>>
endobj
9 0 obj
<<
/Kids [41 0 R 42 0 R 43 0 R]
/Type /Pages
/Count 3
/Parent 3 0 R
>>
endobj
10 0 obj
<<
/S /D
>>
endobj
11 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 44 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 45 0 R
>>
endobj
12 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 46 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 47 0 R
>>
endobj
13 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 48 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 49 0 R
>>
endobj
14 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 50 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 51 0 R
>>
endobj
15 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 52 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 53 0 R
>>
endobj
16 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 54 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 55 0 R
>>
endobj
17 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 56 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 57 0 R
>>
endobj
18 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 58 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 59 0 R
>>
endobj
19 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 60 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 61 0 R
>>
endobj
20 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 6 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 62 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 63 0 R
>>
endobj
21 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 64 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 65 0 R
>>
endobj
22 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 66 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 67 0 R
>>
endobj
23 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 68 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 69 0 R
>>
endobj
24 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 70 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 71 0 R
>>
endobj
25 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 72 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 73 0 R
>>
endobj
26 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 74 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 75 0 R
>>
endobj
27 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 76 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 77 0 R
>>
endobj
28 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 78 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 79 0 R
>>
endobj
29 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 80 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 81 0 R
>>
endobj
30 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 7 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 82 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 83 0 R
>>
endobj
31 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 84 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 85 0 R
>>
endobj
32 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 86 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 87 0 R
>>
endobj
33 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 88 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 89 0 R
>>
endobj
34 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 90 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 91 0 R
>>
endobj
35 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 92 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 93 0 R
>>
endobj
36 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 94 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 95 0 R
>>
endobj
37 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 96 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 97 0 R
>>
endobj
38 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 98 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 99 0 R
>>
endobj
39 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 100 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 101 0 R
>>
endobj
40 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 8 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 102 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 103 0 R
>>
endobj
41 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 9 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 104 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 105 0 R
>>
endobj
42 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 9 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 106 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 107 0 R
>>
endobj
43 0 obj
<<
/Type /Page
/Parent 9 0 R
/Rotate 0
/CropBox [0 0 612 792]
/Contents 108 0 R
/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]
/Resources 109 0 R
>>
endobj
44 0 obj
<<
/Filter [/FlateDecode]
/Length 3471
>>
stream
HWێ}G2qټ8dz&0!aCDz%R&o!ߛS4fץNUzkۻ241іETg&(pa.L;pX(ܬۻ=frsӇ0~`qaD҇
FUKxJz]hSlUSXBWěBcWCI{Gv&E60<Ȋ;2?}7$
%ſBz;HֳrUֺkݝ-#Y2./&[Sb xd
0E 7$Q^OPQ][gQŖR?qinQ,V,Vll80Op4
>Pb4<6t