Ian Hacking
Ian Hacking
Ian MacDougall Hacking, born February 18, 1936, is a Canadian philosopher specializing in the philosophy of science. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards, such as the Killam Prize for the Humanities and the Balzan Prize, and been a member of many prestigious groups, including the Order of Canada, the Royal Society of Canada and the British Academy...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth18 February 1936
CountryCanada
statistics systematic facts
Statistics began as the systematic study of quantitative facts about the state.
taken wings ideas
Molecular biology has routinely taken problematic things under its wing without altering core ideas.
two way problem
There are two ways in which a science develops; in response to problems which is itself creates, and in response to problems that are forced on it from the outside.
ideas paradox reactions
The best reaction to a paradox is to invent a genuinely new and deep idea.
science technology reality
Philosophers of science constantly discuss theories and representation of reality, but say almost nothing about experiment, technology, or the use of knowledge to alter the world. This is odd, because 'experimental method' used to be just another name for scientific method.... I hope [to] initiate a Back-to-Bacon movement, in which we attend more seriously to experimental science. Experimentation has a life of its own.
important able moral
The important thing is to be able to understand anyone who has something useful to say. - There is a general moral here. Be very careful and very clear about what you say. But do not be dogmatic about your own language. Be prepared to express any careful thought in the language your audience will understand. And be prepared to learn from someone who talks a language with which you are not familiar.
philosophy thinking finals
The final arbitrator in philosophy is not how we think but what we do.
commitment mean acceptance
Acceptance means commitment, among other things.
player odds games
The bad player is the one who tries to calculate and play with the odds, as if his game, his life, were one of a large number of games. To do so is at best to succumb to another necessity, the necessity of large numbers. The good player does not fool himself, and accepts that there is exactly one chance, which produces by chance the necessity and even the purpose that he experiences.
doing-nothing settling cases
In each case you settle on an act. Doing nothing at all counts as an act.
legends philosopher armchairs
By legend and perhaps by nature philosophers are more accustomed to the armchair than the workbench.
race hacking realising
Every once in a while, something happens to you that makes you realise that the human race is not quite as bad as it so often seems to be.
land people taxation
When land and its tillage are the basis of taxation, one need not care exactly how many people there are.
future cutting done
Cutting up fowl to predict the future is, if done honestly and with as little interpretation as possible, a kind of randomization. But chicken guts are hard to read and invite flights of fancy or corruption.