Author Archives:

About Brandon Watson

Brandon Watson has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Toronto. He specializes in early modern philosophy, with particular focus on Hume and his philosophical context. He also has a longstanding interest in Whewell and his contemporaries and in Duhem.

Some Pierre Duhem Online

Posted on March 5, 2011

There’s actually quite a bit of Pierre Duhem’s work available online; but it is very scattered. A number are available through Google Books. One limitation of Google Books, of course, is that Google Books entries are not universally available; in … Continue reading →

Posted in Links, Philosophy, Physics | 1 Comment

Whewell on Epochs of Induction

Posted on December 23, 2010

When William Whewell set out to write his history of the inductive sciences, he was writing at a time at which it was not uncommon to see history in terms of the actions of ‘Great Men’. The temptation to do … Continue reading →

| Leave a comment

Hume, Curiosity, and the Justification of Scientific Endeavor

Posted on October 1, 2010

A considerable portion of the philosophy of David Hume can be interpreted as an attempt to formulate a proper philosophical account of the scientific endeavor itself. This certainly is a major concern for Hume; much of his discussion of causation, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Philosophy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Newton’s First and Second

Posted on September 8, 2010

As we usually learn it, Newton’s second law of motion is: F=ma If we try to interpret Newton’s first law of motion in terms of algebraic equations, it’s very natural to take it as simply describing the case where the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Physics | Tagged , | Leave a comment