A Special Issue of the Journal for General Philosophy of Science has just been published on “Classical Methodologies in the Philosophy of Science“, edited by María de Paz and Pietro Gori.

By engaging a variety of methods that scientists and philosophers from the period known as the ‘long nineteenth century’ (1789-1918) have offered, the papers collected in this Special Issue show that “classic” approaches to the philosophy of science can supply us with alternative views on issues of current philosophical interest (e.g. on scientific realism; explanation; or causation) which are worth being revitalized and reintroduced into today’s debate. Furthermore, this Issue embraces the general viewpoint of an integrated history and philosophy of science in maintaining that the historical perspective may aid and augment philosophical reflection. Thus, emphasis is given not only to the way philosophers tried to assess what is “scientific”, but also—and quite importantly—to the way the scientific method inspired a variety of philosophical methodologies. The question the present Issue aims to deal with is in fact a broad one, involving the very relationship between philosophy and science and the possibility of casting new light on the philosophy of science itself.