ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2 we considered the historical importance of the development of the natural sciences in preparing the way for the later emergence of the social sciences. The emphasis there was on features of the ‘scientific attitude’ that are characteristic of the whole field of science, not unique to any one science or group of sciences. I did not mean to imply, however, that disciplines like economics and sociology are sciences because they are like physics and chemistry. The object of Chapter 2 was to examine an important aspect of the intellectual history of the West, not to evaluate the social disciplines by comparison with the natural sciences or by reference to general criteria of scientific philosophy.
