Machiavelli studied the past and wrote history, yet he also complained of the "malice of time" and denounced the infamy of those who proposed to accelerate change by sub- verting religions or republics. Philosophers of science have no such ambivalence about the history of science: the latter is a record of change-growth-but what moves and accel- erates that change is not so much infamous as praiseworthy. J. 0. Wisdom's new book is another attempt to locate the feature of science that (...) propels its growth. It is also yet another attempt to come to terms with Kuhn. (shrink)

Robert Martin, in his review of myLaws and Other Worlds, has grasped the thrust of much of the argument. I would like to respond to three specific points that he makes, and to add a couple of more general comments that will bring out some other aspects of the structure of the argument that he misses, to try to show why I think the sort of enterprise the book attempts is worthwhile, more important than Martin's own pragmatic tendencies will perhaps (...) allow. (shrink)