ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses historical epistemology in fact revolves around enduring difficulties in conceptualising the correct or most fruitful interaction between history and philosophy of science. It explores the questioning of historical epistemology back to the enduring and prevalently Anglophone debate over the ‘marriage’ between history and philosophy of science. The chapter argues that this renewed interest can in turn be fruitfully situated in a French philosophical context. It demonstrates the distance of epistemologie historique from the contextualism and historicism, which, according to Gingras, characterise social studies of knowledge. The persistence of the terms of the ‘marriage’ debate in the discussion of historical epistemology means that, despite the ‘historical drive’ of the 1960s, there is still need for integration between history and philosophy of science. Historical epistemology, in both its French and its contemporary Anglophone iterations, should be understood as a dynamic conceptual arena for continued discussion of how we might effectively integrate history and philosophy of science.
