The Spirit of Empiricism? An Analysis of Empiricism as a Stance

In 'The Empirical Stance' Bas C. van Fraassen sets out to uncover the spirit of empiricism: "what is empiricism, and what it could be, if it is to be a viable philosophy today?" (2002, p. 31). In answer to this question van Fraassen rejects the canonical characterization of empiricism as a philosophical position established on a thesis (such as all knowledge comes from sense experience), and argues that we must endorse empiricism as a philosophical position established in a stance. But what the empirical stance is or entails exactly, van Fraassen has failed to make clear. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and philosophically evaluate empiricism as a stance. In light of my analysis, however, I will argue that van Fraassen has not provided a concrete characterization of stance empiricism (or indeed stances in general), and that the concept remains problematically vague.

Autorentext

The Author is from British Columbia, Canada. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops, British Columbia) in 2011, and his M.A. in Philosophy from The University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia) in 2013.

Klappentext

In 'The Empirical Stance' Bas C. van Fraassen sets out to uncover the spirit of empiricism: what is empiricism, and what it could be, if it is to be a viable philosophy today? (2002, p. 31). In answer to this question van Fraassen rejects the canonical characterization of empiricism as a philosophical position established on a thesis (such as all knowledge comes from sense experience), and argues that we must endorse empiricism as a philosophical position established in a stance. But what the empirical stance is or entails exactly, van Fraassen has failed to make clear. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and philosophically evaluate empiricism as a stance. In light of my analysis, however, I will argue that van Fraassen has not provided a concrete characterization of stance empiricism (or indeed stances in general), and that the concept remains problematically vague.