Chicken Soup for the Out-of-Step Scholar's Soul

This paper argues that the long-standing predominance of a particular approach to science neither makes it uniquely scientific nor superior to rival approaches. To do so it examines the dominant scientific explanation of the 17^th and early 18^th centuries: the mechanical philosophy. The mechanical philosophy episode demonstrates the fragility of even the most entrenched scientific wisdoms and provides encouragement for out-of-step scholars everywhere.

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