The distinction between the contexts of discovery and justification as seen through the interaction of the unity of science and the integrity of the scientist

the William Whewell’s case

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the distinction between the context of justification and the context of discovery based on some ideas developed by William Whewell (1794- 1866). By reading Whewell’s writings and intellectual biography ,we observe that his philosophy of science and its role in his own historical-philosophical and moral project for the reform of science require the inclusion of elements which had been regarded as secondary by philosophers of science during the twentieth century. We conclude that for Whewell the epistemological and methodological aspects of science are not independent of the integrity of the training as well as of the intellectual and moral commitments of scientists, nor of the historical understanding of knowledge production.