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
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.
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.
math science house
Why should there be the method of science? There is not just one way to build a house, or even to grow tomatoes. We should not expect something as motley as the growth of knowledge to be strapped to one methodology.
philosopher modern claims
Many modern philosophers claim that probability is relation between an hypothesis and the evidence for it.
mean science thinking
Thers is this wonderful iconoclast at Rutgers, Doron Zeilberger, who says that our mathematics is the result of a random walk, by which he means what WE call mathematics. Likewise, I think, for the sciences.
vocabulary ideas combination
From any vocabulary of ideas we can build other ideas by formal combinations of signs. But not any set of ideas will be instructive. One must have the right ideas.