The Great Second. William Whewell's role in the making of the "philosophy - physics" trading zone

The concept "trading zones" (Peter Galison, Harry Collins) has become a peculiar pattern of a discussion on scientific communication during the past decade. The idea that scientific communication is not only fruitful but also problematic, and needs developing an interdisciplinary language and special mediative activities applies to the description of the situation in the sciences and in the relationship between the science and society as well. The role philosophy can play, the nature of scholarly communication, ways to apply the market metaphor of exchange and trade to its understanding - one should not discuss these issues in general terms only, but consider them in the context of the specific historical and sociological studies of science and technology. The article proposes a reconstruction of a fragment of the history of electrolysis, in which not only the physicist and chemist (Michael Faraday), but also the philosopher of science (W. Whewell) plays an unexpected role. It is the philosopher's ability to create a terminological innovation that turns out to be a sign of the trading zone formation, but trading here is to be understood as a special gift, and this contributes to the argument that knowledge cannot be bought, it can only be shared. The same case acts as the basis for the hypothesis about a philosopher's mediative role in science.

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