Epistemic Virtues in the Sciences and the Humanities (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science Book 321)

This book explores how physicists, astronomers, chemists, and historians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries employed ‘epistemic virtues’ such as accuracy, objectivity, and intellectual courage. In doing so, it takes the first step in providing an integrated history of the sciences and humanities. It assists in addressing such questions as: What kind of perspective would enable us to compare organic chemists in their labs with paleographers in the Vatican Archives, or anthropologists on a field trip with mathematicians poring over their formulas? While the concept of epistemic virtues has previously been discussed, primarily in the contexts of the history and philosophy of science, this volume is the first to enlist the concept in bridging the gap between the histories of the sciences and the humanities. Chapters research whether epistemic virtues can serve as a tool to transcend the institutional disciplinary boundaries and thus help to attain a ‘post-disciplinary’ historiography of modern knowledge. Readers will gain a contextualization of epistemic virtues in time and space as the book shows that scholars themselves often spoke in terms of virtue and vice about their tasks and accomplishments. This collection of essays opens up new perspectives on questions, discourses, and practices shared across the disciplines, even at a time when the neo-Kantian distinction between sciences and humanities enjoyed its greatest authority. Scholars including historians of science and of the humanities, intellectual historians, virtue epistemologists, and philosophers of science will all find this book of particular interest and value. Contents 6 Introduction: Epistemic Virtues in the Sciences and the Humanities 8 Bibliography 15 Confidence, Humility, and Hubris in Victorian Scientific Naturalism 18 Introduction 18 Epistemic Confidence 20 Epistemic Humility 21 Deep Confidence 22 Doctrines of Deep Confidence: Comte, Peirce, and Spencer 24 Scientific Naturalism and ‘Institutionalised Humility’ 25 Humility, Hubris, and ‘Pictures of the World’ 27 Conclusions 30 References 31 “Broken Symmetry”: Physics, Aesthetics, and Moral Virtue in Nuclear Age America 33 Bibliography 50 Primary Sources (Unpublished) 50 Primary Sources (Published) 50 Secondary Literature 51 Religious and Scientific Virtues: Maxwell, Eddington, and Persistence 54 Introduction 54 Maxwell 55 Eddington 59 Conclusion 64 Bibliography 65 The Epistemic Virtues of the Virtuous Theorist: On Albert Einstein and His Autobiography 67 Introduction 67 Einstein’s Werdegang from Empiricist to Rationalist 69 Unified Field Theory and the Morally Virtuous Theorist 74 Conclusion 78 Bibliography 79 Primary Sources 79 Secondary Sources 80 Scholarly Vices: Boundary Work in Nineteenth-Century Orientalism 82 Introduction 82 Reinhart Dozy 83 Heinrich Ewald 86 Conclusion 89 Bibliography 90 Primary Sources (Unpublished) 90 Primary Sources (Published) 90 Secondary Literature 91 Weber, Wöhler, and Waitz: Virtue Language in Late Nineteenth-Century Physics, Chemistry, and History 94 Introduction 94 Georg Waitz 97 Scientific Discoveries 99 ‘Pure’ and ‘Applied’ 100 Friedrich Wöhler 102 Conclusion 104 Bibliography 106 Primary Sources (Unpublished) 106 Primary Sources (Published) 106 Secondary Literature 108 Virtues of Courage and Virtues of Restraint: Tyndall, Tait and the Use of the Imagination in Late Victorian Science 111 Introduction 111 Tyndall and the Scientific Use of the Imagination 114 Enabling the Imagination 117 Peter Guthrie Tait and Habits of Observation 120 Sensation and Science 124 Conclusion 126 Bibliography 127 Primary Sources (Published) 127 Secondary Literature 128 The Adventurer and the Documentalist: Science and Virtue in Interwar Nature Protection 131 Introduction 132 A Science of Nature Protection 134 The Field (1): Endurance 136 The Field (2): Truthfulness and Discretion 138 The Office: Patience and Precision 142 Conclusions 145 Bibliography 147 Primary Sources (Unpublished) 147 Primary Sources (Published) 147 Secondary Sources 148 “The Lonely Form Dies”: How Epistemic Virtues Connect Roman Jakobson’s New Science of Language and His Personality 150 Introduction 151 The Structuralist Approach to the Study of Language 154 Structuralism as a New Science 157 Avant-Garde Art and the Genesis of Structuralism 162 Longing for a Synthesis 166 Conclusion 168 Bibliography 169 Primary Sources 169 Secondary Sources 170 Johan Rudolph Thorbecke’s Revenge: Objectivity and the Rise of the Dutch Nation State 173 Introduction 173 Adequately Deploying Reason 175 Paternalism and Moralism 177 Local and Verbal 178 Etwas für sich 180 Objectivity and Society 183 Objectivity in Governance 184 History from a Distance 185 Disciplines and Professionalization 188 Conclusion 189 Bibliography 190 Index 194 Annotation This book explores how physicists, astronomers, chemists, and historians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries employed 'epistemic virtues' such as accuracy, objectivity, and intellectual courage. In doing so, it takes the first step in providing an integrated history of the sciences and humanities. It assists in addressing such questions as:What kind of perspective would enable us to compare organic chemists in their labs with paleographers in the Vatican Archives, or anthropologists on a field trip with mathematicians poring over their formulas?While the concept of epistemic virtues has previously been discussed, primarily in the contexts of the history and philosophy of science, this volume is the first to enlist the concept in bridging the gap between the histories of the sciences and the humanities. Chapters research whether epistemic virtues can serve as a tool to transcend the institutional disciplinary boundaries and thus help to attain a 'post-disciplinary' historiography of modern knowledge. Readers will gain a contextualization of epistemic virtues in time and space as the book shows that scholars themselves often spoke in terms of virtue and vice about their tasks and accomplishments. This collection of essays opens up new perspectives on questions, discourses, and practices shared across the disciplines, even at a time when the neo-Kantian distinction between sciences and humanities enjoyed its greatest authority. Scholars including historians of science and of the humanities, intellectual historians, virtue epistemologists, and philosophers of science will all find this book of particular interest and value This book explores how physicists, astronomers, chemists, and historians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries employed 'epistemic virtues' such as accuracy, objectivity, and intellectual courage. In doing so, it takes the first step in providing an integrated history of the sciences and humanities. It assists in addressing such questions as: What kind of perspective would enable us to compare organic chemists in their labs with paleographers in the Vatican Archives, or anthropologists on a field trip with mathematicians poring over their formulas? While the concept of epistemic virtues has previously been discussed, primarily in the contexts of the history and philosophy of science, this volume is the first to enlist the concept in bridging the gap between the histories of the sciences and the humanities. Chapters research whether epistemic virtues can serve as a tool to transcend the institutional disciplinary boundaries and thus help to attain a 'po st-disciplinary' historiography of modern knowledge. Readers will gain a contextualization of epistemic virtues in time and space as the book shows that scholars themselves often spoke in terms of virtue and vice about their tasks and accomplishments. This collection of essays opens up new perspectives on questions, discourses, and practices shared across the disciplines, even at a time when the neo-Kantian distinction between sciences and humanities enjoyed its greatest authority. Scholars including historians of science and of the humanities, intellectual historians, virtue epistemologists, and philosophers of science will all find this book of particular interest and value Front Matter ....Pages i-vi Introduction: Epistemic Virtues in the Sciences and the Humanities (Jeroen van Dongen, Herman Paul)....Pages 1-10 Confidence, Humility, and Hubris in Victorian Scientific Naturalism (Ian James Kidd)....Pages 11-25 “Broken Symmetry”: Physics, Aesthetics, and Moral Virtue in Nuclear Age America (Jessica Wang)....Pages 27-47 Religious and Scientific Virtues: Maxwell, Eddington, and Persistence (Matthew Stanley)....Pages 49-61 The Epistemic Virtues of the Virtuous Theorist: On Albert Einstein and His Autobiography (Jeroen van Dongen)....Pages 63-77 Scholarly Vices: Boundary Work in Nineteenth-Century Orientalism (Christiaan Engberts, Herman Paul)....Pages 79-90 Weber, Wöhler, and Waitz: Virtue Language in Late Nineteenth-Century Physics, Chemistry, and History (Herman Paul)....Pages 91-107 Virtues of Courage and Virtues of Restraint: Tyndall, Tait and the Use of the Imagination in Late Victorian Science (Léjon Saarloos)....Pages 109-128 The Adventurer and the Documentalist: Science and Virtue in Interwar Nature Protection (Raf De Bont)....Pages 129-147 “The Lonely Form Dies”: How Epistemic Virtues Connect Roman Jakobson’s New Science of Language and His Personality (Bart Karstens)....Pages 149-171 Johan Rudolph Thorbecke’s Revenge: Objectivity and the Rise of the Dutch Nation State (Ad Maas)....Pages 173-193 Back Matter ....Pages 195-198