An Introduction to Hans Blumenberg’s History and Philosophy of Science

A prominent German philosopher in the post-WW II era, Hans Blumenberg (1920–1996) skilfully connected the continental tradition of philosophy with conceptual history and metaphorology. Some of his major works, such as Paradigms for a Metaphorology, The Legitimacy of the Modern Age, The Genesis of the Copernican World or Work on Myth have already been translated into English. And a worldwide rising interest in his philosophy can be registered today. Comparably less attention has been paid though by the scholarly literature to Blumenberg’s way of doing history of science and its impact on current historians and philosophers of science. In order to fill this gap, this volume aims to explore the methodological instruments Blumenberg developed, and how we may use them to do history and philosophy of science. The main goal motivating our endeavour is to shed some light on a somehow neglected tradition, which found little room within the dominant analytical philosophy of science. What is at stake is some sort of non-received view in contemporary history and philosophy of science, which may be termed ‘continental history and philosophy of science.’ Standard references on this topic include the now classic book edited by Gary Gutting, Continental Philosophy of Science (2005) and, in a similar vein, Mary Domski and Michael Dickson’s Discourse on a New Method: Reinvigorating the Marriage of History and Philosophy of Science (2010). Our book will serve to map Blumenberg’s contribution to the continental history and philosophy of science. This will not only add new input to the field of history and philosophy of science, but also opens a new area in the scholarship on Blumenberg’s works.