Yafeng Shan | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (original) (raw)

Journal Articles by Yafeng Shan

Philosophy Compass, 2024

Among biologists and philosophers, there is an ongoing debate over the Modern Synthesis and the E... more Among biologists and philosophers, there is an ongoing debate over the Modern Synthesis and the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Some argue that our current evolutionary biology is in need of (at least) some substan-This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2023

Bird's new book, Knowing Science, provides an exemplar of how to do epistemology and philosophy o... more Bird's new book, Knowing Science, provides an exemplar of how to do epistemology and philosophy of science together. While I wholeheartedly appreciate his attempt to bridge the gap between epistemology and philosophy of science and find his project promising, I am not convinced by the central thesis of the book that knowledge plays a central role in science. In this article, I focus on Bird's epistemic account of scientific progress, which is the view that the nature of scientific progress is the accumulation of scientific knowledge. Contra Bird, I argue that scientific progress cannot be fully characterised as the accumulation of scientific knowledge.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 2023

Synthese, 2022

Social scientists often draw on a variety of evidence for their causal inferences. There is also ... more Social scientists often draw on a variety of evidence for their causal inferences. There is also a call to use a greater variety of evidence in social science research. This topical collection examines the philosophical foundations and implications of evidential diversity in the social sciences. It assesses the application of Evidential Pluralism in the context of the social sciences, especially its application to economics and political science. It also discusses the concept of causation in cognitive science and the implications of evidential diversity for the social sciences.

Metaphilosophy, 2022

| 1 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/meta ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ (… and that the u... more | 1 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/meta ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ (… and that the unexamined life is not worth living).-Plato, Apology, 38a5-6 1 | I N T RODUC T ION One of the most distinctive features of philosophy is self-reflection. Philosophers are not only concerned with metaphysical, epistemological, conceptual, ethical, and aesthetic issues of things around us, they also pay serious attention to the nature, value, methods, and development of philosophy itself. This kind of study of philosophy is often called

Philosophy Compass, 2022

This paper provides a critical review of the debate over the philosophical foundations of mixed m... more This paper provides a critical review of the debate over the philosophical foundations of mixed methods research and examines the notion of philosophical foundations. It distinguishes axiology-oriented from ontology-oriented philosophical foundations. It also identifies three different senses of philosophical foundations of mixed methods research. The weak sense of philosophical foundations (e.g., pragmatism) merely allows the possibility of the integration of both quantitative and qualitative methods/data/designs. The moderate sense of philosophical foundations (e.g., transformativism) provide a good reason to use mixed methods in (at least some) social scientific research. The strong sense of philosophical foundations (e.g., dialectical pluralism) justifies a normative thesis that mixed methods research should be encouraged in (at least some) social scientific research.

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been wid... more Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been widely debated whether philosophy makes any progress in history. In this paper I revisit the concept of philosophical progress. At first, I identify two criteria of an ideal concept of philosophical progress. Then I argue that our accounts of philosophical progress fail to provide such an ideal concept. Finally, I argue that not only do we not have a good concept of philosophical progress, but also we do not need a concept of philosophical progress in order to make a good understanding of the history of philosophy.

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2021

Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to es... more Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to establish the existence of an appropriate conditional correlation and the existence of an appropriate mechanism complex, so when assessing a causal claim one ought to consider both association studies and mechanistic studies. Hitherto, Evidential Pluralism has been applied to medicine, leading to the EBM+ programme, which recommends that evidence-based medicine should systematically evaluate mechanistic studies alongside clinical studies. This paper argues that Evidential Pluralism can also be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. In particular, Evidential Pluralism provides (i) a new approach to evidence-based policy; (ii) a new account of the evidential relationships in more theoretical research; and (iii) new philosophical motivation for mixed methods research. The application of Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences is also defended against two objections.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 2021

The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users ar... more The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

Philosophy of Science, 2019

This article develops and defends a new functional approach to scientific progress. I begin with ... more This article develops and defends a new functional approach to scientific progress. I begin with a review of the problems of the traditional functional approach. Then I propose a new functional account of scientific progress, in which scientific progress is defined in terms of usefulness of problem defining and problem solving. I illustrate and defend my account by applying it to the history of genetics. Finally, I highlight the advantages of my new functional approach over the epistemic and semantic approaches and dismiss some potential objections to my approach.

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been wid... more Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been widely debated whether philosophy makes any progress in history. This paper revisits the concept of philosophical progress. It first identifies two criteria of an ideal concept of philosophical progress. It then argues that our accounts of philosophical progress fail to provide such an ideal concept. Finally, it argues that not only do we not have a good concept of philosophical progress, we also do not need a concept of philosophical progress in order to arrive at a good understanding of the history of philosophy.

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2021

Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to es... more Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to establish the existence of an appropriate conditional correlation and the existence of an appropriate mechanism complex, so when assessing a causal claim one ought to consider both association studies and mechanistic studies. Hitherto, Evidential Pluralism has been applied to medicine, leading to the EBM+ programme, which recommends that evidence-based medicine should systematically evaluate mechanistic studies alongside clinical studies. This paper argues that Evidential Pluralism can also be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. In particular, Evidential Pluralism provides (i) a new approach to evidence-based policy; (ii) an account of the evidential relationships in more theoretical research; and (iii) new philosophical motivation for mixed methods research. The application of Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences is also defended against two objections.

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Recently there has been an increasing interest in metaphilosphy. The aim of philosophy has been e... more Recently there has been an increasing interest in metaphilosphy. The aim of philosophy has been examined. The development of philosophy has also been scrutinised. With the development of new approaches and methods, new problems arise. This collection revisits some of the metaphilosophical issues, including philosophical progress and the aim of philosophy. It sheds new light on some old approaches, such as naturalism and ordinary language philosophy. It also explores new philosophical methods (e.g., digital philosophy of science, conceptual engineering, and the practice-based approach to logic) and their prospects.

Philosophy Compass, 2019

The nature of scientific explanation is controversial. Some maintain that all scientific explanat... more The nature of scientific explanation is controversial. Some maintain that all scientific explanations have to be contrastive in nature. (Contrastivism) However, others argue that no scientific explanation is genuinely contrastive. (Non-contrastivism) In addition, a compatibilist view is developed. It is argued that the debate between contrastivism and non-contrastivism is merely a linguistic dispute rather than a genuine disagreement on the nature of scientific explanation. Scientific explanations are both contrastive and non-contrastive in some sense. (Compatibilism) This paper examines the debate between contrastivism and non-contrastivism in scientific explanation. It begins with a critical review of the arguments for contrastivism, non-contrastivism, and compatibilism, and concludes with some remarks on the prospect of the issue.

Philosophy Compass, 2022

This paper provides a critical review of the debate over philosophical foundations of mixed metho... more This paper provides a critical review of the debate over philosophical foundations of mixed methods research and examines the notion of philosophical foundations. It distinguishes axiology-oriented from ontology-oriented philosophical foundations. It also identifies three different senses of philosophical foundations of mixed methods research. The weak sense of philosophical foundations (e.g. pragmatism) merely allows the possibility of the integration of both quantitative and qualitative methods/data/designs. The moderate sense of philosophical foundations (e.g. transformativism) provide a good reason to use mixed methods in (at least some) social scientific research. The strong sense of philosophical foundations (e.g. dialectical pluralism) justifies a normative thesis that mixed methods research should be encouraged in (at least some) social scientific research.

Synthese, 2020

Alexander Bird indicates that the significance of Thomas Kuhn in the history of philosophy of sci... more Alexander Bird indicates that the significance of Thomas Kuhn in the history of philosophy of science is somehow paradoxical. On the one hand, Kuhn was one of the most influential and important philosophers of science in the second half of the twentieth century. On the other hand, nowadays there is little distinctively Kuhn’s legacy in the sense that most of Kuhn’s work has no longer any philosophical significance. Bird argues that the explanation of the paradox of Kuhn’s legacy is that Kuhn took a direction opposite to that of the mainstream of the philosophy of science in his later academic career. This paper aims to provide a new way to understand and develop Kuhn’s legacy by revisiting the development of Kuhn’s philosophy of science in 1970s and proposing a new account of exemplar. Firstly, I propose my diagnosis of Kuhn’s “wrong turning” by identifying Kuhn’s two novel contributions: the introduction of paradigm and the proposal of the incommensurability thesis. Secondly, I argue that Kuhn made a conceptual/terminological turn from paradigm to theory, which undermined Kuhn’s novel contributions. Thirdly, I propose a new articulation of exemplar and propose an exemplar-based approach to analysing the history of science. Finally, I show how the exemplar-based approach can be applied to analyse the history of science by my case study of the early development of genetics.

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been wid... more Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been widely debated whether philosophy makes any progress in history. This paper revisits the concept of philosophical progress. It first identifies two criteria of an ideal concept of philosophical progress. It then argues that our accounts of philosophical progress fail to provide such an ideal concept. Finally, it argues that not only do we not have a good concept of philosophical progress, we also do not need a concept of philosophical progress in order to arrive at a good understanding of the history of philosophy.

Philosophy Compass, 2019

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2021

Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to es... more Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to establish the existence of an appropriate conditional correlation and the existence of an appropriate mechanism complex, so when assessing a causal claim one ought to consider both association studies and mechanistic studies. Hitherto, Evidential Pluralism has been applied to medicine, leading to the EBM+ programme, which recommends that evidence-based medicine should systematically evaluate mechanistic studies alongside clinical studies. This paper argues that Evidential Pluralism can also be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. In particular, Evidential Pluralism provides (i) a new approach to evidence-based policy; (ii) an account of the evidential relationships in more theoretical research; and (iii) new philosophical motivation for mixed methods research. The application of Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences is also defended against two objections.

Philosophy Compass, 2024

Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2023

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 2023

Synthese, 2022

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Philosophy Compass, 2022

Metaphilosophy, 2022

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2021

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 2021

Philosophy of Science, 2019

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been wid... more Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been widely debated whether philosophy makes any progress in history. This paper revisits the concept of philosophical progress. It first identifies two criteria of an ideal concept of philosophical progress. It then argues that our accounts of philosophical progress fail to provide such an ideal concept. Finally, it argues that not only do we not have a good concept of philosophical progress, we also do not need a concept of philosophical progress in order to arrive at a good understanding of the history of philosophy.

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2021

Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to es... more Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to establish the existence of an appropriate conditional correlation and the existence of an appropriate mechanism complex, so when assessing a causal claim one ought to consider both association studies and mechanistic studies. Hitherto, Evidential Pluralism has been applied to medicine, leading to the EBM+ programme, which recommends that evidence-based medicine should systematically evaluate mechanistic studies alongside clinical studies. This paper argues that Evidential Pluralism can also be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. In particular, Evidential Pluralism provides (i) a new approach to evidence-based policy; (ii) an account of the evidential relationships in more theoretical research; and (iii) new philosophical motivation for mixed methods research. The application of Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences is also defended against two objections.

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Philosophy Compass, 2019

Philosophy Compass, 2022

Synthese, 2020

Metaphilosophy, 2022

Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been wid... more Philosophical progress is one of the most controversial topics in metaphilosophy. It has been widely debated whether philosophy makes any progress in history. This paper revisits the concept of philosophical progress. It first identifies two criteria of an ideal concept of philosophical progress. It then argues that our accounts of philosophical progress fail to provide such an ideal concept. Finally, it argues that not only do we not have a good concept of philosophical progress, we also do not need a concept of philosophical progress in order to arrive at a good understanding of the history of philosophy.

Philosophy Compass, 2019

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2021

Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to es... more Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to establish the existence of an appropriate conditional correlation and the existence of an appropriate mechanism complex, so when assessing a causal claim one ought to consider both association studies and mechanistic studies. Hitherto, Evidential Pluralism has been applied to medicine, leading to the EBM+ programme, which recommends that evidence-based medicine should systematically evaluate mechanistic studies alongside clinical studies. This paper argues that Evidential Pluralism can also be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. In particular, Evidential Pluralism provides (i) a new approach to evidence-based policy; (ii) an account of the evidential relationships in more theoretical research; and (iii) new philosophical motivation for mixed methods research. The application of Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences is also defended against two objections.

Oxford University Press, 2024

Causation is one of the most controversial topics in philosophy. There is a wide range of philoso... more Causation is one of the most controversial topics in philosophy. There is a wide range of philosophical accounts of causation, for example, the regularity account, the probabilistic account, the counterfactual account, the interventionist account, which can be all classified as ‘difference-making’ accounts; and the mechanistic account. Many argue that only one of these accounts is correct as there is only one type of causal relation (causal monism), while others maintain that there are multiple types of causation (causal pluralism). In addition, there are eliminativists argue that science has no need of causation at all, while primitivists maintain that causation is unanalysable. Recently, the difference-making and mechanistic approaches have dominated recent philosophical discussion of causation. Other approaches and positions have been insufficiently discussed and assessed, especially in the context of philosophy of science. This volume explores and examines alternative approaches to causation. It revisits causal primitivism and causal eliminativism in the context of recent literature. It further explores the pluralistic approach, the fictionalist approach, the inferentialist approach, and the informational approach. It also examines the application of the dispositional approach, the epistemic approach, and the powerful particulars approach to the natural and social sciences. Overall, the volume is complementary to the recent discussion on the difference-making and mechanistic approaches and sheds new light on the metaphysical, epistemological, conceptual and methodological issues on causation. As such, it provides foundations for further research and teaching of this hotly debated topic.

Routledge, 2024

Philosophical Foundations of Mixed Methods Research provides a comprehensive examination of the p... more Philosophical Foundations of Mixed Methods Research provides a comprehensive examination of the philosophical foundations of mixed methods research.
It offers new defences of the seven main approaches to mixed methods (the pragmatist approach, the transformative approach, the indigenous approach, the dialectical approach, the dialectical pluralist approach, the performative approach, and the realist approach) written by leading mixed methods researchers. Each approach is accompanied by critical reflections chapter from philosophers’ point of view. The book shows the value of the use of mixed methods from a philosophical point of view, and offers a systematic and critical examination of these positions and approaches from a philosophical point of view. The volume also offers a platform to promote a dialogue between mixed methods researchers and philosophers of science, and provides foundations for further research and teaching of this hotly debated topic.
This volume is ideal for researchers and advanced students, and anyone who is interested in research methods and the social sciences more generally.

Wiley, 2023

One of the most distinctive features of philosophy is self-reflection. Philosophers are not only ... more One of the most distinctive features of philosophy is self-reflection. Philosophers are not only concerned with metaphysical, epistemological, conceptual, ethical, and aesthetic issues of things around us, they also pay serious attention to the nature, value, methods, and development of philosophy itself. This book examines some of the most important metaphilosophical issues: Is philosophy progressive? Are metaphysical claims meaningful? What is the aim of philosophy? Should analytic metaphysics be replaced by naturalised metaphysics? What is the prospect of a digital approach to philosophy of science? Can poetry play a substantial role in philosophy? Examining Philosophy Itself will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in philosophy.

Routledge, 2023

This volume contends that Evidential Pluralism-an account of the epistemology of causation, which... more This volume contends that Evidential Pluralism-an account of the epistemology of causation, which maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one needs to establish the existence of a correlation and the existence of a mechanism-can be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. Through case studies in sociology, economics, political science and law, it advances new philosophical foundations for causal enquiry in the social sciences. The book provides an account of how to establish and evaluate causal claims and it offers a new way of thinking about evidence-based policy, basic social science research and mixed methods research. As such, it will appeal to scholars with interests in social science research and methodology, the philosophy of science and evidence-based policy.

Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 2020

Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 2022

This collection of original essays offers a comprehensive examination of scientific progress, whi... more This collection of original essays offers a comprehensive examination of scientific progress, which has been a central topic in recent debates in philosophy of science.

Traditionally, debates concerning scientific progress have focused on different methodological approaches, notably the epistemic and semantic approaches. The chapters in Part I of the book defend these two traditional approaches, as well as the newly revived functional and newly developed understanding-based approaches. Part II features in-depth case studies of scientific progress from the history of science. The chapters cover individual sciences including physics, chemistry, evolutionary biology, seismology, psychology, sociology, economics, and medicine. Finally, Part III of the book explores important issues from contemporary philosophy of science. These chapters address the implications of scientific progress for the scientific realism/anti-realism debate, incommensurability, values in science, idealisation, scientific speculation, interdisciplinarity, and scientific perspectivalism.

New Philosophical Perspectives on Scientific Progress will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working on the history and philosophy of science.

This book offers an integrated historical and philosophical examination of the origin of genetics... more This book offers an integrated historical and philosophical examination of the origin of genetics. The author contends that an integrated HPS analysis helps us to have a better understanding of the history of genetics, and sheds light on some general issues in the philosophy of science. This book consists of three parts. It begins with historical problems, revisiting the significance of the work of Mendel, de Vries, and Weldon. Then it turns to integrated HPS problems, developing an exemplar-based analysis of the development and the progress in early genetics. Finally, it discusses philosophical problems: conceptual change, evidence, and theory choice. Part I lays out a new historiography, serving as a basis for the discussions in part II and part III. Part II introduces a new integrated HPS method to analyse and interpret the historiography in Part I and to re-examine the philosophical issues in Part III. Part III develops new philosophical accounts which will in turn make a better...

Philosophical Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Dialogues between Researchers and Philosophers, 2024

A variety of philosophical positions have been proposed and developed to motivate, justify, and g... more A variety of philosophical positions have been proposed and developed to motivate, justify, and guide mixed methods research. This chapter provides a brief overview of the main positions in the debate over the philosophical foundations of mixed methods research. It shows that 'philosophical foundations' means differently while different positions provide 'philosophical foundations' in different senses. It also highlights the significance of the collaboration between researchers and philosophers in the examination of the philosophical foundations of mixed methods research.

Doing Integrated Philosophy and History of Science: A Case Study of the Origin of Genetics, 2020

In this chapter, I argue that the exemplar-based approach motivates a new functional approach to ... more In this chapter, I argue that the exemplar-based approach motivates a new functional approach to scientific progress, which makes a better account of the progress in the history of genetics. First of all, motivated by the exemplar-based approach, I propose a new functional approach to scientific progress, in which scientific progress is defined in terms of usefulness of problem-defining and problem-solving. Secondly, I further develop a functional account of the progress in early genetics. Thirdly, I argue that the new functional approach well resolves the problems of the traditional functional approach. Fourthly, I highlight the advantages of my new functional account over the epistemic and semantic accounts and dismiss some potential objections to my account.

Doing Integrated History and Philosophy of Science: A Case Study of the Origin of Genetics, 2020

Understanding the origin of genetics has been a persistent problem in the history and philosophy ... more Understanding the origin of genetics has been a persistent problem in the history and philosophy of biology: Is Mendel the founder of genetics? If so, in what sense? What was Mendel’s contribution to the origin of genetics? What role did Mendel’s work play in the “rediscovery” in 1900? What was the contribution made by the “rediscoverers” to the origin of genetics? What is a best way to analyse and interpret the origin of genetics, from a philosophical point of view? This chapter provides a new philosophical account of the early development of genetics. I begin with a critical review of the theory-based analyses of the origin of genetics. Then inspired by the Kuhnian analyses, I develop an exemplar-based account of the origin of genetics based on a new interpretation of exemplar.

Information and the History of Philosophy, 2021

It has been widely received that one of Gregor Mendel’s most important contribution to the histor... more It has been widely received that one of Gregor Mendel’s most important contribution to the history of genetics is his novel work on developmental information (for example, the proposal of the famous Mendelian ratios like 1:2:1, 3:1, and 9:3:3:1). This view is well evidenced by the fact that much of early Mendelians’ work in the 1900s focuses on the retrodiction (i.e. the re-analysis of the pre-exist data with Mendel’s approach). However, there is no consensus on what Mendel meant by development (Entwicklung). Nor is there an agreement on the interpretation of Mendel’s laws of developmental series (Entwicklungsreihe). This chapter revisits Mendel’s notions of development and developmental series. First, I argue that Mendel’s use of development is greatly influenced by Gärtner’s. Second, I show Mendel’s work on developmental series are novel and important for its new ways of experimentation, conceptualisation, and analysis. Third, I argue that Mendel’s laws of developmental informatio...

It is a puzzle why the significance of Mendel’s paper Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden for the stu... more It is a puzzle why the significance of Mendel’s paper Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden for the study of heredity was not well appreciated until the 1900s. This chapter revisits the problem of the long neglect and provides a new philosophical explanation. I begin with a distinction between two versions of the problem. I critically examine the traditional diagnoses of the problem. Then I defend the exemplar-based account of Mendel’s contribution. Finally, I further develop an exemplar-based explanation of problem of the long neglect.

Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 2020

Facing many famous objections, the hypothetico-deductive (H-D) model is no longer the mainstream ... more Facing many famous objections, the hypothetico-deductive (H-D) model is no longer the mainstream account of evidence in the philosophy of science. Nevertheless, in the history (and even contemporary practice) of science, the H-D model has been being widely used. So there is a gap problem between the philosophical analysis of evidence and good actual scientific practice. Achinstein (PSA: Proc Bienn Meet Philos Sci Assoc 67:S180–S192, 2000; Evidence. In: Psillos S, Curd M (eds) The Routledge companion to philosophy of science, Routledge, London, pp 337–348, 2008) attempts to resolve the gap problem by introducing a strong and empirical account of evidence. However, the Achinsteinian solution is still not fully satisfactory. In the chapter, I argue for a practice-based solution to the gap problem. I begin with the case of Mendel’s evidence to illustrate the gap problem and show why the Achinsteinian solution fails. Then, I propose an account of a good H-D evidential practice. I further argue that the gap problem can be well resolved by my account.

It is now received that de Vries’ work is better characterised as the incorporation of Mendel’s w... more It is now received that de Vries’ work is better characterised as the incorporation of Mendel’s work into his project of the theory of pangenesis. However, there is still lack of a systematic evaluation of de Vries’ incorporation. It is unclear in what sense de Vries’ incorporation was significant for the origin of genetics. Nor is it very clear what role Mendel’s work played in de Vries’ incorporation. Would there have been a Mendelian theory of heredity in the first decade of the twentieth century if Mendel had not ever written or published his paper on Pisum? This chapter examines the significance of de Vries’ work and its relation to Mendel’s work. Firstly, I argue that Mendel’s work was indispensable for de Vries’ conceptualisation and theorising. Secondly, I show that de Vries’ unsuccessful incorporation was still important for its introduction of Mendel’s work to the study of heredity and the proposal of the law of segregation.

Doing Integrated History and Philosophy of Science: A Case Study of the Origin of Genetics, 2020

Along with Pearson, Weldon is best known as leading the Biometric school to resist the Mendelian ... more Along with Pearson, Weldon is best known as leading the Biometric school to resist the Mendelian approach, mainly developed by Bateson, to the study of heredity in the first decade of the twentieth century. Accordingly, the examinations of Weldon’s work are typically framed within the context of the Mendelian-Biometrician controversy. This chapter revisits the significance of Weldon’s work in the history of genetics by examining Weldon’s view on inheritance and its development. Firstly, I critically review the traditional historiography of Weldon. Then, I sketch an outline of Weldon’s later work on inheritance. Finally, I discuss the differences between Pearson’s and Weldon’s views on inheritance and science, and suggest a new reading of Weldon’s work.

When we say that a scientific concept C changes, we mean that (1) at least some aspect or compone... more When we say that a scientific concept C changes, we mean that (1) at least some aspect or component of C varies, and (2) there is still something continuous in the historical development of C. However, how to account for the continuity in a radical conceptual change has been a difficulty. This chapter overcomes this difficulty by providing a new account of conceptual continuity in science. I begin with an examination of the historical development of the concept of dominance and highlight the inadequacies of the analytic, the cognitive, and the practice-based approaches. Then I introduce a holistic approach to conceptual change. By distinguishing two modes of continuity, I also propose a new mode of conceptual continuity. Finally, I illustrate and defend my approach by revisiting my historical case study.

Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 2020

This chapter proposes a new criterion of theory choice. I begin with a criticism on a traditional... more This chapter proposes a new criterion of theory choice. I begin with a criticism on a traditional criterion of theory choice. Contra the traditional approach, I argue that theory choice is a situation where scientists are reasoning what theory should be favoured as the most promising theory in the area rather than the one where scientists choose a theory among all the alternatives to be the best theory in the area. Then, I elaborate the concept of promisingness of theories in terms of potential usefulness. Moreover, I compare promisingness with other diachronic criteria, such as Popper’s potential progressiveness, Lakatos’ predictive novelty, McMullin’s P-fertility, Laudan’s fertility-promise, Ivani’s fruitfulness, and Seselja et al’s pursuit worthiness. Finally, I argue for the promisingness criterion from a normative viewpoint.

Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 2020

The historiography of Mendel has changed dramatically for the past five decades. Mendel’s paper V... more The historiography of Mendel has changed dramatically for the past five decades. Mendel’s paper Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden is no longer simply viewed as an attempt to study the problem of heredity. It is now a consensus that Mendel’s concern, literally speaking, was about the development of hybrids in their progeny. However, there is no consensus on what Mendel meant by development (Entwicklung). Nor is there an agreement on the interpretation of Mendel’s laws of developmental series (Entwicklungsreihe). This chapter revisits Mendel’s notions of development and developmental series. Firstly, I argue that Mendel’s use of development was greatly influenced by Gartner’s. Secondly, I show Mendel’s work on developmental series was novel and important for its new ways of experimentation, conceputalisation, and hypothesisation. Thirdly, I argue that Mendel’s laws of developmental series were not about heredity.

New Philosophical Perspectives on Scientific Progress, Sep 26, 2022

Handbook of the Historiography of Science, 2023

Scientific revolution has been one of the most controversial topics in the history and philosophy... more Scientific revolution has been one of the most controversial topics in the history and philosophy of science. Yet it has been no consensus on what is the best unit of analysis in the historiography of scientific revolutions. Nor is there a consensus on what best explains the nature of scientific revolutions. This chapter provides a critical examination of the historiography of scientific revolutions. It begins with a brief introduction to the historical development of the concept of scientific revolution, followed by an overview of the five main philosophical accounts of scientific revolutions. It then challenges two historiographical assumptions of the philosophical analyses of scientific revolutions.

New Philosophical Perspectives on Scientific Progress, 2022

Information and the History of Philosophy, 2021