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Scientific Classics and Their Fates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Ernan McMullin
Ernan McMullin*
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame
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Extract

The term ‘classic’ runs a risk that all our terms of approbation face in these inflationary times, the risk, that is, of losing its ability to mark off singular works of human achievement. A “classic” today might be anything from a horse-race to a hairstyle. But it was not always so. There is some debate about the origins of the term (“of the highest class”? “books for class use”?), but it long ago came to designate those works of Greek and Latin literature that for centuries shaped the education of young Western Europeans. These books were held up not only as models of literary accomplishment but also as sources of moral and social wisdom. Though they were composed in ages long past, their resonance was still felt in the present. And so the broader sense developed of a significant literary work of the past that still in one way or another speaks to us today.

Type
Part VIII. Science and Philosophy in the Classic Texts
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1994 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1994 , 1994 , pp. 266 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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