Narrative and evidence. How can case studies from the history of science support claims in the philosophy of science?

Scientists’ attitudes on science and values: Case studies and survey methods in philosophy of science

“…Several responses to the methodological challenges discussed above have been suggested, including treating case studies as a means for suggesting new philosophical perspectives (Burian, 2001;Chang, 2012), adopting a hermeneutical approach (Schickore, 2011), and being more cautious about what sorts of philosophical claims can be inferred from cases (Kinzel, 2015). We agree that greater caution about the philosophical consequences of case studies is sometimes warranted.…”

“…That is, given the probabilistic relationship between methods and outcomes, a philosopher who advocates method A and opposes B can always find cases in which A succeeds and B fails. Kinzel (2015) develops these ideas in further detail with "a narratological account of historical case studies," according to which a case study is a type of historical narrative that involves selection, emphasis, and emplotment (Kinzel, 2015, p. 51). Selection consists of choosing a case out of the many possible and carving out its boundaries.…”

“…We approach this topic by way of literature that raises critical methodological questions about the use of case studies in the philosophy of science (Faust & Meehl, 2002;Kinzel, 2015;Machery & Cohen, 2012;Pitt, 2001). Two methodological concerns can be helpfully extracted from this literature:…”

Negotiating history: Contingency, canonicity, and case studies

“…How does the historian build an account that answers these kinds of questions? Drawing on Hayden White's (1973) account of historical narrative building, Katherina Kinzel (2015a; suggests that each stage of historical-case construction is theory-laden. 5 Historical cases are selected from a chronicle-the entire space of past events-and molded into a story with a beginning, middle, and end; certain aspects of that story are emphasized; and the way in which events are emplotted-the precise way in which the story is told-affects the meaning of the information the case contains.…”

“…5 Historical cases are selected from a chronicle-the entire space of past events-and molded into a story with a beginning, middle, and end; certain aspects of that story are emphasized; and the way in which events are emplotted-the precise way in which the story is told-affects the meaning of the information the case contains. For instance, Kinzel (2015a) argues that Steven Shapin's (1975) sociological approach to history disposes him to emphasize the relationship between science and society, historical actors' social classes, and social transformations in his account of phrenology in nineteenth-century Edinburgh. Moreover, emplotment requires making numerous decisions, each of which is theory-laden.…”