The changing relationship of science with philosophy is of great importance for the discipline of philosophy of science. A change of great significance is occurring in philosophy which, under logical positivism, sought to prescribe what "good" science is. Today, philosophers tend to view the role of philosophy of science not to be so much prescriptive but rather more descriptive. Dr. Ryckman, a recent Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University, will be using this postdoctoral fellowship to work with Dr. Arthur Fine at Northwestern University on the history of the relationship of science and philosophy. He will examine the early writings of F. A. M. Schlick, Hans Reichenbach, and Rudolf Carnap as well as other logical positivists. Dr. Ryckman will focus his attention on the perceived impact of developments in science, in particular, the theory of relativity, on more traditional philosophical concerns and issues. He will try to establish lines of connection and divergence with other philosophical trends of the time, especially the older positivism and neo-Kantianism. He will also consider these early writings as innovative and exploratory attempts to redefine the terms of interrelation and mutual dependence of science and philosophy, attempts which were lost sight of in the later militant period of logical positivism, but which retain much of value and of interest to philosophers of science and others who reflect on the nature of science and its role in society, today.
