Topology as an issue for history of philosophy of science

Thomas Mormann

pp. 423-434

in: Hanne Andersen, Dennis Dieks, Thomas Uebel, Wenceslao J. Gonzalez, Gregory Wheeler (eds), New challenges to philosophy of science, Berlin, Springer, 2013

Abstract

Since antiquity well into the beginnings of the 20^th century geometry was a central topic for philosophy. In contrast, most philosophers of science, if they took notice of topology at all, considered it as an abstruse subdiscipline of mathematics lacking philosophical inter­est. Here it is argued that this neglect of topology may be conceived of as the sign of a conceptual sea-change in philosophy of science that expelled geometry, and, more generally, mathematics, from its central position in philosophy of science and, instead, placed logic at center stage in the 20^th century philosophy of science. Only in recent decades logic has begun to loose its monopoly and geo­metry and topology received a new chance to find a place in philosophy of science, as an object for philosophical reflection and as a conceptual tool for doing philosophy.