The article is the function of general laws in history, and it set the stage for several fruitless decades of debate within analytic philosophy about the nature of historical explanation. Hempels paradox of the ravens has been a constant challenge for theories of confirmation. Carl hempel laws and their role in scientific explanation. The function of general laws in history bobbsmerrill reprint series in european history 1942. General laws hempel authors general laws in history and writes a number of articles in defense of logicism, although he would never fully adopt the term logicsism he stated that mathematics can be reduced to simple logic. Hempel, the function of general laws in history, the journal of. Hempel, carl gustav19051997 carl gustav hempel was born in germany, immigrated to the united states, and became a naturalized citizen source for information on hempel, carl gustav 19051997. Ever since 1942, when carl hempel declared that historical events are. Function of general laws in history 35 vestigation might lead us.
Hempel on the occasion of his 80th birthday, january 8th 1985. Carl gustav peter hempel january 8, 1905 november 9, 1997 was a german writer and philosopher. Carl s wife eva had jewish bloodlines would have been putting her life at risk. The function of general laws in history, carl hempel. Carl gustav hempel 19051997 was a german writer and philosopher, who was a major figure in the movement of logical empiricism. Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes, imre lakatos. Revisiting hempels 1942 contribution to the philosophy of history.
Carl gustav hempel 19051997, a leading member of logical positivism, was born in orianenburg, germany, in 1905. Mar 30, 2012 carl hempel published his sole contribution to the philosophy of history in 1942, almost exactly 70 years ago. Philosophy of natural science carl gustav hempel, gary. At first they proceeded boldly and then with growing nervousness, as if, despite a fairly brave front maintained for public purposes, they had become increasingly conscious. Hempel 19051997 was the principal proponent of the covering law theory of explanation and the paradoxes of confirmation as basic elements of the theory of science. Carl hempel published his sole contribution to the philosophy of history in 1942, just over 70 years ago hempel 1942. Hempel argued that all scientific explanation has the same logical. William dray called this the covering law model of. Further references are to the text as it appeared in the gardiner book. For twentyfive years, ever since professor carl hempel wrote the function of general laws in history, analytical philosophers have been fiddling around with history. Popper exerted the most influence upon natural scientists and. Pokp, box 77, folder 3, rare book and manuscript library, columbia university. Carl hempels philosophy of natural science is an introduction to the philosophy of science by one of the twentieth centurys finest philosophers of science.
Carl hempel published his sole contribution to the philosophy of history in 1942, almost exactly 70 years ago. This paper situates carl hempels 1942 paper the function of general laws in history within a broader debate over the philosophy of history in american academia between 1935 and 1943. Explanations of empirical laws rely on theoretical principles that make reference to structures and processes underlying the uniformities in question. A master of philosophical methodology, hempel pursued explications of initially vague and ambiguous concepts, which were required to satisfy very specific criteria of adequacy. The philosophy of the humanities which you can find here s. Gay observed that hempels essay the function of general laws in history is a much debated. Gay observed that hempel s essay the function of general laws in history is a much debated classic. Hempel on the occasion of his 80th birthday, january 8th 1985 springer netherlands haim gaifman auth. Carl hempel published his sole contribution to the philosophy of.
Kim shows generally that his additional requirement blocks. Carl gustav hempel 19051997 was one of the preeminent figures in the philosophical movement of logical empiricism. In this book the author provides a key to understanding the role of covering laws in. Hempel s paradox of the ravens has been a constant challenge for theories of confirmation.
He is especially well known for his articulation of the deductivenomological model of scientific explanation, which was considered the. A master of philosophical methodology, hempel pursued explications of initially vague and ambiguous concepts, which were required to satisfy very specific criteria. Carl hempel, two models of scientific explanation carl gustav hempel s 1905 1997 classic account of explanation is widely known as the coveringlaw model. Carl gustav hempel, germanborn american philosopher, formerly a member of the berlin school of logical positivism, a group that viewed logical and mathematical statements as revealing only the basic structure of language, but not essentially descriptive of the physical world. His paradox of the ravensas an illustration of the paradoxes of confirmationhas been a constant challenge for theories of confirmation.
His interpretation of scientific explanation and his paradoxes of confirmation have stimulated discussion for decades. Gay observed that hempels essay the function of general laws in history is a much debated classic. Carl hempel january 8, 1905 november 9, 1997, american. His deductivenomological model of scientific explanation placed explanations on the same logical footing as predictions. It is, however, pertinent to say that much more in the way of positive results has already been attained than is indicated anywhere in this article. Hempel 1966 the process of scientific discovery often involves formulating hypotheses, testing predictions, and an interdisciplinary search. Hempel formalizes historical explanation as involving a statements of determining initial and boundary conditions for the event to be explained, and b statements of general laws that imply that whenever events of the kind described in a occur. He was a member of both the berlin and vienna circles, fled germany in 1934 and finally settled in the us where he taught for many years in new york, princeton, and pittsburgh. The historian peter gay wrote that aspects of scientific explanation was seminal and indispensable, writing that hempel persuasively argued that the logic of history and that of the natural sciences are the same. Hempel is the author of philosophy of natural science 3. He was a major figure in logical empiricism, a 20thcentury movement in the philosophy of science. Hempel versus collingwood in 1942 the philosopher carl hempel published a paper called the func tion of general laws in history in which he laid out a theory of historical explanation.
Full text of 1966 philosophy of natural science carl g hempel. Kuhn, a former colleague, he would become one of the most important philosophers of science of the twentieth century. The function of general laws in history carl g hempel. Carl hempel these, in turn, may be explained by subsumption under the more com prehensive general theory of relativity. Project muse revisiting hempels 1942 contribution to. The editors preface to this 2001 book states, perhaps the three most important philosophers of science of the twentieth century have been sir karl popper, carl g. He is especially well known for his articulation of the deductivenomological model of scientific explanation, which was considered the standard model of scientific explanation during the. Hempel in an article called the function of general laws in history. General laws shall be taken to mean verifiable statements that can be proven to apply to more than one historical event or act the concept of laws in the field of history has more in common with. The relations between the history and the philosophy of science, thomas kuhn. Epistemology, methodology, and philosophy of science. Hempel, the function of general laws in history, in readings in philosophical analysis, ed. Hempel studied at the realgymnasium at berlin and, in 1923, he was admitted at the university of gottingen where he studied mathematics with david hilbert and edmund landau and symbolic logic with heinrich behmann.
Carl hempel and his wife eva ahrends move to the united states settling in chicago, the main reason for the move was the growing issues in germany. Hempels most popular book is philosophy of natural science. Carl gustav hempel was born in germany, immigrated to the united states, and became a naturalized citizen. If one were to construct a type of genealogical chart, it would show analytic philosophy of history as the runt of a litter of topics sprung from philosophy of science in its youth. It is a rather widely held opinion that history, in contradistinction to the socalled physical sciences, is concerned with the description of particular events of the past rather than with the. Hempel, the function of general laws in history, in aspects of scientific explanation and other essays in the philosophy of science. Hempel exerted greater influence upon philosophers of science than any other figure during the 20th century.
Carl gustav hempels work is essential for understanding the positivist philosophy of science. Philosophy of history the routledge companion to philosophy. Full text of 1966 philosophy of natural science carl g. General laws shall be taken to mean verifiable statements that can be proven to apply to more than one historical event or act the concept of laws. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Access to this document requires a subscription or membership. Dean, recent french discourses on stalinism, nazism, and exorbitant jewish memory, history and memory 18, no. The essays enhance our understanding of the development of logical empiricism as. Hempel 19051997 was the principal proponent of the. Such subsumption under broader laws or theories usually increases both the breadth and the depth of our scientific understanding. In this farreaching collection, distinguished philosophers contribute valuable studies that illuminate and clarify the central problems to which hempel was devoted. William dray called this the covering law model of historical explanation. Carl gustav hempel 19051997 carl hempel, a germanborn philosopher who immigrated to the united states, was one of the prominent philosophers of science in the twentieth century. The article is the function of general laws in history link, and it set the.
Since its introduction in the seminal paper coauthored by hempel. He is especially well known for his articulation of the deductivenomological model of scientific explanation, which was considered the standard model of. Project muse revisiting hempels 1942 contribution to the. At first they proceeded boldly and then with growing nervousness, as if, despite a fairly brave front maintained for public purposes, they had become increasingly conscious that the subject presented unforeseen. Aspects of scientific explanation and other essays in the philosophy of science is a 1965 book by the philosopher carl gustav hempel. Search the history of over 433 billion web pages on the internet. Carl gustav hempel s work is essential for understanding the positivist philosophy of science. Carls wife eva had jewish bloodlines would have been putting her life at risk.
He is especially well known for his articulation of the deductivenomological model of scientific explanation, which was considered the standard model of scientific explanation during the 1950s. This book is one of the best in the popular foundations of philosophy series, and a classic in the philosophy of science. By john jefferson in high school chemistry, students learn that there are certain experiments that can be repeated if we recreate the exact set of circumstances as the original experiment. Carl hempel s philosophy of natural science is an introduction to the philosophy of science by one of the twentieth centurys finest philosophers of science. Carl gustav hempel, germanborn american philosopher, formerly a member of the berlin school of logical positivism, a group that viewed logical and mathematical statements as revealing only the basic structure of language, but not essentially. Carl gustav hempel american philosopher britannica. Carl hempel, jr was born circa 1909, at birth place, california, to carl hempel and victoria hempel. It is a rather widely held opinion that history, in contra. Dean, recent french discourses on stalinism, nazism, and exorbitant jewish. Carl hempel historical records and family trees myheritage. Hempel authors general laws in history and writes a number of articles in defense of logicism. According to carl hempel in the function of general laws in history the journal of philosophy, vol.
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