The evolutionist conception of St. Toulmin

According to this theory the development of science is similar to that of biologic species. In lieu of the concept of paradigm Toulmin uses that of scientific ideas’ population. These populations as well as the biologic ones are the main bearers of the evolution changes. And the evolution of science as well as the evolution of species is determined by the ideas mutability and the populations’ struggle for existence. The place of the natural selection is occupied by the so-called intellectual one. The factors of the scientific ideas mutability and evolution can be divided into the inner and outer ones. The inner factors are those connected with the inner logic and methodology of science and determined by them. The outer factors are connected with the scientific society. Every scientific ideas population exists thanks to and through the corresponding population of scientists, who are the bearers of these ideas. Their welfare in the modern society is directly dependent on propagation of their ideas. That is, scientists propagate their ideas according to the corresponding inner rules but grounding on the outer factors or shortly speaking on their own interests. The population of scientists is a social group and therefore these outer factors (scientists’ interests) are the social ones (including also religious, politic, cultural moments). The population of scientists fights for their place under the sky (i. e. for recognition, financing, influence the scientific and wider society etc.). Further in complete compliance with the Darwin’s theory the selection occurs. In the case of the evolution of science unlike the evolution of nature this is the intellectual selection, that is the selection committed by the scientists society itself (the scientists are judges themselves for themselves) and has the intellectual (realized according to the inner factors of the development of science) character. Thus the evolution of science is determined by the struggle of scientific ideas populations for their existence and the intellectual selection (by analogy to the species struggle for existence and the natural selection).

Date: 2014-12-21; view: 1164