I consider the motives of historians devising counterfactual histories, analyze the narrative structure of these histories, and assess their merits. Richard Evans attacked counterfactual histories as motivated by wishful thinking. And he claimed that they could not contribute anything to the understanding of the past because they are concerned “with pointing out supposedly preferable alternatives.” Both claims can be refuted with two particular counterfactual histories of biology. An analysis of the narrative structure of counterfactual histories suggests objective criteria that can distinguish those that have been designed, in order to reach a certain narrative ending, from those that were open-ended at the beginning. These criteria are then applied to two examples from the history of biology: Bowler's Darwin Deleted and Radick's ‘Other Histories, Other Biologies.’ Radick did not determine his counterfactual in advance, to meet a certain narrative ending. This refutes the first claim (wishful thinking). Bowler self-avowedly did design his counterfactual in advance, but its narrative ending still contributes to understanding. In particular, it shows that the idea of natural selection is not necessarily associated with its social discontents. This refutes the second claim (cannot contribute to understanding).
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Ian Hesketh;
(2016)
Counterfactuals and history: Contingency and convergence in histories of science and life
Article
Luca Tambolo;
(2020)
An unappreciated merit of counterfactual histories of science
Article
Stephen J. Weininger;
(2022)
“The Poor Sister:” Coming to Grips with Recent and Contemporary Chemistry
Article
Hu, Zonggang;
(2011)
Tong Te-Kong and Oral History of Science Works
Article
Joachim L. Dagg;
(2017)
How counterfactuals of Red-Queen theory shed light on science and its historiography
Article
Luca Tambolo;
(2020)
So close no matter how far: counterfactuals in history of science and the inevitability/contingency controversy
Article
Thierry Hoquet;
(2021)
Pluralizing Darwin: Making Counter-Factual History of Science Significant
Article
Peter J. T. Morris;
Jeffrey I. Seeman;
(2022)
The Importance of Plurality and Mutual Respect in the Practice of the History of Chemistry
Article
Hallvard J. Fossheim;
(2019)
Past responsibility: History and the ethics of research on ethnic groups
Article
Gregory Radick;
(2016)
Presidential Address: Experimenting with the Scientific Past†
Article
Fan, Fa-ti;
Yuan, Jian;
(2012)
Views and Reflections on Doing the History of Science: Interview with Fan Fa-ti
Article
Setoguchi, Akihisa;
(2009)
Darwin Commemorations and Three Generations of Historians of Biology
Article
Theunissen, Bert;
(2013)
Frans Verdoorn (1906--1984)---Biohistorie
Article
Gomis, Alberto;
Josa, Jaume;
(2003)
Veinticinco años de Historia de la Biología en España (1977--2002)
Article
Robert Bud;
(2016)
Representing scale: What should be special about the heritage of mass science?
Article
William H. Brock;
(2022)
The Long and Short of It: The Future Writing of History of Chemistry
Article
Jeffrey I. Seeman;
(2022)
Remote Interviewing and the History of Chemistry
Article
Ana Barahona;
(2023)
Erasing borders: a new look at the historiography of science
Article
Paul Merchant;
(2019)
What Oral Historians and Historians of Science Can Learn from Each Other
Article
Wang, Yangzong;
(2011)
The Chinese Way in Science and the Oral History of Modern Science in China
Bulletin for the History of Chemistry
British Journal for the History of Science
Chinese Journal for the History of Science and Technology
Almagest
East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal
Be the first to comment!