Whewell, William

Whewell, William
(1794–1866)
English philosopher of science and polymath, of whom the essayist Sydney Smith (1771–1845) said ‘science is his forte, and omniscience is his foible’. Whewell was a lifelong Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. His philosophy of science can be seen as applying Kant to the scientific enterprise as conceived by Newton and Francis Bacon . Thus The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840) begins with the claim that ‘Man is the interpreter of Nature, science is the right interpretation’. He analyses scientific theorizing into the decomposition or analysis of facts, the explication of conceptions or attempt to formulate concepts to apply to the facts, and the colligation of facts, whereby facts and conceptions are brought together to give rise to the general propositions of a science (see also consilience ). It is noteworthy that for Whewell the process requires real inventiveness: there is no mechanical or purely logical procedure that guarantees scientific success. His other major work is the History of the Inductive Sciences (1837).

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  • Whewell, William — born May 24, 1794, Lancaster, Lancashire, Eng. died March 6, 1866, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire British philosopher and historian. He spent most of his career at the University of Cambridge, where he taught mineralogy (1828–32) and moral philosophy… …   Universalium

  • Whewell, William — (24 may. 1794, Lancaster, Lancashire, Inglaterra–6 mar. 1866, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire). Filósofo e historiador británico. Su carrera transcurrió principalmente en la Universidad de Cambridge, donde enseñó mineralogía (1828–32) y filosofía moral …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • WHEWELL, WILLIAM —    professor of the science of things in general, born at Lancaster, son of a joiner; studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he became successively fellow, tutor, professor, and master; was a man of varied attainments, of great… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Whewell, William — (1794 1866)    Philosopher, theologian and mathematician, s. of a joiner at Lancaster, where he was b., ed. at Camb., where he had a brilliant career. He became Prof. of Mineralogy at Camb. 1828, of Moral Theology 1838, was Master of Trinity from …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Whewell — Whewell, William …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Whewell’s philosophy of science and ethics — Struan Jacobs ON SCIENCE Introduction Among the most prodigious of English minds of the nineteenth century, William Whewell (1794–1866) was at various times, and among other things, philosopher, intellectual historian, scientist, educationist,… …   History of philosophy

  • Whewell — William Whewell William Whewell (* 24. Mai 1794 in Lancaster, England; † 6. März 1866 in Cambridge, England) war ein britischer Philosoph und Wissenschaftshistoriker. Whewell war 1818 Präsident der Cambridge Union Society. Ab 1817 war er Fellow… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Whewell — William Whewell. William Whewell (24 de mayo de 1794 6 de marzo de 1866). Teólogo, filósofo y científico británico. Y al mismo tiempo conocido por emplear el término científico en vez de filósofo natural …   Wikipedia Español

  • William Whewell — (* 24. Mai 1794 in Lancaster, England; † 6. März 1866 in Cambridge, England, Aussprache ˈhjuːəl) war ein britischer Philosoph u …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Whewell — (phon. ˈhjuːəl) est un polymathe anglais, scientifique, philosophe et historien des sciences, né à Lancastre le 24 mai 1794 et mort à Cambridge le 6 mars 1866. En 1821, il dev …   Wikipédia en Français

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