Introduction

Abstract

For much of the second quarter of this century, logical positivism was the dominant philosophy of science in the Anglo-American world. It always was under fire, but gradually those attacks mounted in the 1950s and 1960s began to take their toll and the possibility of alternative programs began to be investigated. A number of such alternatives were promulgated and in the wake of their success in attracting devotees positivism seemed to wither on the vine. But if the history of thought teaches us anything, it is that not only are entire research programs rarely eliminated without a trace, but also that such large scale programs leave legacies and that it is often some time before they can be discerned.