Resumen de Philosophy and history of science in Sober: : comments on Did Write the Origin Backwards?
Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards (DDWOB) is Sober’s book that comes closest to history of science. Some reviews have expressed reservations about Sober’s inclination to subordinate historical accuracy to analytical clarity, and to contemporary discussions (Richards 2012; Ruse 2012). My comments will be devoted to the kind of relationship that Sober entertains with history of science. I do not think that the author’s interest in history is superficial and instrumental.
In the first section, I try to locate Sober’s book within ‘&HPS’ (Integrated History and Philosophy of Science), a recent initiative that gathers a growing number of people willing to promote a new regime of interaction between philosophy and history of science. I will suggest that Sober offers an interesting way of developing this approach. The more critical second section is devoted to Sober’s first chapter, bearing on the relationship between the two main tenets of Darwin’s argument in the Origin—descent with modif ...
