Du Châtelet's Scientific Methodology - Ruth Hagengruber: Du Châtelet's Copernican Turn

Ruth E. Hagengruber (Universität Paderborn) on "Du Châtelet's Copernican Turn. The chapter on hypotheses and the reorganization of the architecture of science ".

Abstract: Today, hypotheses determine our scientific activity, and no one doubts
that hypotheses are an essential tool of science. This was not always the case, on the
contrary. Rather, the recognition of hypotheses as a crucial element for innovation
in science marked a radical change when Émilie Du Châtelet proposed hypotheses
as the relevant research tool, to replace by the search for causes. It was not only
the status of hypotheses and their function that were contested. The defense of the
hypothetical conjecture served to change the idea of science and consequently the
idea of science’s architecture. The epistemic importance of principles and observation
was relativized and became a control instrument for the power of imagination. Du
Châtelet equates her epistemological turn with that of Copernicus when he reversed
the perspective of how to see the universe. For all these reasons, the fourth chapter
in the Institutions physiques is a core chapter of Du Châtelet’s methodology. No
wonder, Du Châtelet’s chapter on hypotheses was influential and found its way into
the writings of d’Alembert, Condillac, Euler and Kant, and its influence continued
into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, though her authorship was faded out.

2024) Hagengruber, Ruth Edith. “Émilie du Châtelet on Hypotheses”. In Teaching Women Philosophers. Ideas and Concepts from Women Philosophers’ Writings from more than 2000 Years. Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences. Springer International Publishing, 71-93.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10....

This talk was part of the International Online Conference:

Émilie Du Châtelet’s Scientific Methodology: Hypotheses and the Principles of Knowledge on
23rd/24th of May 2024, which was organised by Clara Carus, Head of the DFG-Research Project :The Relationship between the Theory of Hypotheses and the Principles of Knowledge in Émilie Du Châtelet at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists.
Keynote Address: Katherine Brading (Duke University)

Interest and scholarship on Du Châtelet has been growing exponentially recently. Many Du Châtelet scholars see her newfound scientific methodology at the heart of her philosophy. Du Châtelet developed an intriguing theory of hypotheses, elaborating on the scope, legitimacy, content and proper establishment of hypotheses. Furthermore, she put forward an account of knowledge on the basis of self-evident axiomatic principles of knowledge. In Du Châtelet’s scientific methodology the principles of knowledge and the theory of hypotheses stand in a compelling relation. Du Châtelet takes up important ideas from Descartes, Leibniz, Wolff, Locke and Newton (among others) and develops them further in her scientific methodology, while consciously distancing herself from other aspects of their works.
This workshop features some of the most prominent Du Châtelet scholars as well as international experts in Early Modern Methodology and is committed to exploring Du Châtelet’s scientific methodology in its content and historic significance. It will be a fun and inclusive event, which is open to students and faculty alike.

More on the event: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.or...

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