Empiricism at bay?

Herbert Feigl

pp. 269-285

in: Herbert Feigl, Inquiries and provocations, Berlin, Springer, 1981

Abstract

At the risk of being regarded a 'square" and "reactionary" I wish to defend, explicate, reformulate and 'salvage" whatever seems valuable to me in the empiricist tradition in the philosophy of science. I am fully aware of the almost hostile vogue of "beating-up" on the empiricists, a fashion that is still in full swing. My only consolation is the remark of a well-known British philosopher. When he visited us at the University of Minnesota a few years ago, he said to me: "Don't worry Feigl, if you don't catch the bus of philosophy the first time, just wait a while, it"ll come "round again!" Since I was lucky enough to catch the bus of philosophical fashion some forty years ago, I hope to be lucky once again during the rest of my "natural life".