Books by Hasok Chang
Edited Books by Hasok Chang
A collection of studies by undergraduate students at University College London.
Peer-Reviewed Research Papers by Hasok Chang
Even though operationalism has long been rejected by most philosophers and scientists, there are ... more Even though operationalism has long been rejected by most philosophers and scientists, there are valuable insights in Bridgman's original reflections worth recovering and developing further. I propose taking operationalism not as a theory of meaning, but as a directive to seek higher meaningfulness in concepts through the hard work of finding or creating operations linked to them. According to the late-Wittgensteinian notion of meaning-as-use, the more uses a concept has, the more meaningful it is. In line with my doctrine of "active realism", operationalism is the striving to create more opportunities for learning about reality. Bridgman's skeptical worries were valid concerns about the loss of meaningfulness arising from careless empirical and mathematical extensions of concepts. From this perspective also arises a new solution to the problem of the multiplicity of measurement methods that avoids both Bridgman's timid conscience and Hempel's deference to theory, celebrating a coherent multiplicity of operations as richness of meaning.
(With Grant Fisher), “What the Ravens Really Teach Us: The Intrinsic Contextuality of Evidence”, in W. Twining, P. Dawid, & Mimi Vasilaki, eds., Evidence, Inference and Enquiry, Proceedings of the British Academy 171 (Oxford: Oxford University Press and the British Academy, 2011), 341–366.
Why do some epistemic objects persist despite undergoing serious changes, while others go extinct... more Why do some epistemic objects persist despite undergoing serious changes, while others go extinct in similar situations? Scientists have often been careless in deciding which epistemic objects to retain and which ones to eliminate; historians and philosophers of science have been on the whole much too unreflective in accepting the scientists’ decisions in this regard. Through a re-examination of the history of oxygen and phlogiston, I will illustrate the benefits to be gained from challenging and disturbing the commonly accepted continuities and discontinuities in the lives of epistemic objects. I will also outline two key consequences of such re-thinking. First, a fresh view on the (dis)continuities in key epistemic objects is apt to lead to informative revisions in recognized periods and trends in the history of science. Second, recognizing sources of continuity leads to a sympathetic view on extinct objects, which in turn problematizes the common monistic tendency in science and philosophy; this epistemological reorientation allows room for more pluralism in scientific practice itself.
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Books by Hasok Chang
Edited Books by Hasok Chang
Peer-Reviewed Research Papers by Hasok Chang