Evoluční epistemologie Stephena Toulmina

Abstract

When answering the question: “How does science really work?” Stephen Toulmin developed his own account of evolutionary epistemology. Evolutionary epistemology should be understood as naturalistic approach to the theory of knowledge which uses models and analogies derived from evolutionary biology. Toulmin states that at each stage there is a pool of competing intellectual variants and each generation selects some of them. The selected ones are incorporated into the science concerned and subsequently passed on to the next generation as integral part of the scientific tradition. Thus science develops as the outcome of a double process: innovation and selection. Given this evolutionary framework the author will look at the nature of intellectual evolution, changes and choices in science.