The Philosopher Ahead of His Time. Ludwik Fleck and the Complexity of Science (Communication and Notes)

Abstract

The new edition in Italian of the articles by the Polish microbiologist and philosopher Ludwik Fleck (1896 1961) edited by Francesco Coniglione offers the opportunity for some considerations around this significant scholar. Fleck anticipates Kuhn s ideas as ell as those of the sociolog of science. For him, an epistemolog that does not take psychological and sociological methods into account, or that does not concern itself with economics, technology, art, and even politics, is an epistemology imaginabilis. Here we discuss some key points of the essays collected in the book, some observations taken from the rich introduction of the editor, and an inevitable question: Why has Fleck been neglected for so long?