For Week 13 in my Western Civ course: Human Nature and the New Biology. Previous files in the series: 1. Introduction. 2. The Renaissance Context. 3. England to the Glorious Revolution. 4. Justice and Modernizing the Law. 5. From Feudal to Modern Business and Economics. 6. The American Enlightenment. 7. The Battle for Women’s Liberty […]
PowerPoint added: Human Nature and the New Biology Read More »
From Part 3 of Stephen Hicks’s Philosophy of Education course, in which he discusses Ignaz Semmelweis’s discovery of the cause of puerperal fever, with special focus on the cognitive methods Semmelweis used. Clips 1-3: Previous: Reason–a developmental story.Next: The “Juliet is the sun” metaphor.Return to the Philosophy of Education page.Return to the StephenHicks.org main page.
The Semmelweis case Read More »
Prior to the discovery of germ theory and antiseptic, women frequently died of puerperal fever in the maternity ward at the University of Vienna Hospital. Enter Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian-born physician working at the Vienna hospital, one of the world’s leading medical establishments. Carl Hempel’s account of Semmelweis’s false starts, failed hypotheses, and eventual success
In class: Semmelweis as epistemological hero Read More »