Historical Ontology

With an unusual clarity, a unique and captivating style, and insights that have attracted such a wide audience to his works, Ian Hacking offers in his book "Historical Ontology" his reflections on the philosophical use of history. The book presents... a collection of his recent, as well as classic essays, on the historical emergence of concepts and objects through new uses of words and sentences in specific conditions, as well as new models or styles of reasoning within these propositions. Thanks to a clear and comprehensive view of the historical dimension of concepts, the book is both a systematic formulation of Hacking's approach and its connection with other types of intellectual history, as well as a valuable contribution to the philosophical understanding in the broad context of general reflections on how language, styles of reasoning, and psychological phenomena influence the formulation of concepts — and on the very prospect of transforming philosophy into historical ontology.