Stephen Toulmin - Timeline 1

Stephen Toulmin

Period: Mar 25, 1922 to Dec 4, 2009

This timeline encompasses the lifespan of Stephen Edelston Toulmin and his significant contributions to the philosophy of science. This will be achieved by highlighting some of the many works that Toulmin published over his life and the corresponding effects on the philosophy of science.

Published “The Philosophy of Science: An Introduction"

1953

This is one of the first works published by Toulmin. This book incorporates a simplistic approach to explaining what a scientific theory means and determining its logical basis. The book centers around physics and uses some of the simplest theories of physics to support his examination of the logic of science. This book contributes to the philosophy of science by providing personal contributions entirely dedicated to introducing the reader to the philosophy of science (Klauber 345).

Co-Published "Seventeenth Century Science and the Arts"

1961

In this book, Toulmin provides a captivating introduction centered around the seventeenth century and the corresponding relationship between science and the arts. Throughout, Toulmin draws together various academic disciplines and the contributions and effect those disciplines had on the history of science. These contributions specifically linked the significant philosophers of the century to the arts and sciences (Howell Rhys 6)

Co-Published "The Fabric of the Heavens"

1961

This was the first of three books in the Ancestry of Science co-written with June Goodfield. The book was written with the purpose of the development of astronomy and dynamics, and the contribution that these sciences have made to our cosmological picture. The writers highlight the contributions of Ancient Greek philosophers and their early advancements in astronomy throughout the Greek age. This link to the past emboldens the connection to the philosophy of science (Seeger 169).

Co-Published "The Architecture of Matter"

1962

This was the second of three books in the Ancestry of Science co-written with June Goodfield. In this book, Toulmin contributes to the philosophy of science by interpreting and synthesizing past and present scientific understanding of matter (Toulmin & Goodfield 17).

Co-Published "The Discovery of Time"

1965

This was the third and final of the three books in the Ancestry of Science co-written with June Goodfield. The writers attempt to answer the question “how did our intellectual picture of nature acquire its temporal perspective?” Toulmin and Goodfield utilize a comprehensive review of five thousand years of history as well as the contribution of Greek and Christian philosophy to attempt to answer the question, thereby advancing the philosophy of science (Young 74).

Published "Human Understanding: The Collective Use and Evolution of Concepts"

1972

In this book, Toulmin challenges works by Kuhn by discrediting his revolutionary process and replacing it with his own theory of evolutionary process by introducing his evolutionary model of conceptual change that shares similarities to Darwin's model of biological evolution.

Published an Updated Edition "The Uses of Argument"

2003

This book was initially published in 1958, and its updated edition in 2003. The original work and the updated version are arguably Toulmin’s most successful books that he has written. The book introduces its readers to the Toulmin method, which is a style of argumentation broken down into several components, which gives philosophers a conceptual framework to structure an argument (Toulmin 87). The following video further explains the Toulmin method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWnEbMZ0IaA