A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
In Defense of Causal Presentism
Authors: Virmajoki Veli
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Publishing place: Chicago
Publication year: 2022
Journal: Hopos
Journal name in source: HOPOS-THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Journal acronym: HOPOS
Volume: 12
Issue: 1
First page : 68
Last page: 96
eISSN: 2156-6240
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/718993
Web address : https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/718993
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/174870801
In this article, I defend causal presentism in the historiography of science. In causal presentism, the historiography of science studies events, processes, and practices that were causally relevant to the development of the present science. I argue that causal presentism has three main virtues. First, causal presentism avoids the conceptual problems that the historiography of science has recognized at its core. Second, causal presentism provides a clear account of what counts as historical explanatory understanding about science. Third, causal presentism enables novel ways to address several conceptual and methodological problems in the historiography of science. The conclusion is that causal presentism is a distinctively strong position with respect to the historiography of science.
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