Abstract
J. D. North speaks of historians’ reaction to attempts made by T. Kuhn jointly with Sneed and Stegmüller to formalize the interpretations of the revolutions in science. In some instances North successfully formulates the obstacles encountered in any formalization of history. His view applies, moreover, not only to formalization, but to any logical and rational comprehension of the past. A logician or philosopher, North duly observes, primarily proceeds from contemporary interpretations of one concept or another. Thus his approach to the past is shaped by his willingness to find something in the past resembling the present. The historian’s most important goal is to treat past events in their inherent meaning, irrespective of their significance today: that is, to view them in their uniqueness as being characterized by some individual features which they do not share with other events.
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© 1980 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Markova, L.A. (1980). A Comment on J. D. North, ‘On Making History’. In: Hintikka, J., Gruender, D., Agazzi, E. (eds) Probabilistic Thinking, Thermodynamics and the Interaction of the History and Philosophy of Science. Synthese Library, vol 146. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2766-2_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2766-2_17
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