John W. N. Watkins
Encyclopedia
John William Nevill Watkins (31 July 1924, Woking, Surrey
– 26 July 1999, Salcombe, Devon
) was an English philosopher, a professor at the London School of Economics
from 1966 until his retirement in 1989 and a prominent proponent of Critical rationalism
.
He married 1952 Micky Roe (one son, three daughters).
at Dartmouth
and went straight into the wartime Navy
. He served in destroyers, escorting Russian convoys and the battleship carrying Churchill back from Marrakech
.
In 1944 he was decorated with the DSC
for torpedoing a German destroyer off the French coast, part of an action which defeated the only remaining surface force that might have interfered with the Normandy landings.
Road to Serfdom (1944) on his destroyer aroused his interest in attending the LSE
where Hayek taught. A First in Political Science and a prize-winning essay won him a Henry Ford Fellowship to Yale, where he graduated MA in 1950. Then he returned to the LSE as Assistant Lecturer in Political Science.
Watkins had attended Karl Popper’s
lectures at the LSE in logic and scientific method “and had fallen under his spell”. 1958 he shifted from the Government Department to Popper’s, being appointed Reader in Philosophy. Imre Lakatos
joined them in 1960. Watkins and Lakatos edited the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
, and Watkins was President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science
from 1972 until 1975. When Popper retired in 1970, Watkins took over his Chair.
At an international symposium on Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge held in London in 1965 Watkins replied to a paper in which Thomas S. Kuhn
had compared his own theory of scientific revolutions
with Popper’s falsificationism
. He saw a clash between
Watkins wrote classic and much-anthologised papers about the influence of metaphysics on science, about methodological individualism
, and about historical explanation. In 1965 Watkins published Hobbes’s System of Ideas, in which he demonstrated that Thomas Hobbes’s
political theory follows from his philosophical ideas. His most important work was Science and Scepticism, published in 1984. In it he tried “to succeed where Descartes
failed", and show how science could survive in the face of scepticism. In his book Human Freedom after Darwin, posthumously published in 1999, he returned to a problem that had long occupied him.
After his retirement in 1989, Watkins played a leading role in establishing the Lakatos Award
in the Philosophy of Science as the pre-eminent scholarly distinction in the field, honouring his former colleague Imre Lakatos who had died, aged only 52, in 1974.
On 26 July 1999, eleven weeks after completing his book Human Freedom after Darwin, Watkins died of a heart attack while sailing his boat, Xantippe, on the Salcombe estuary
, South Devon, England.
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
– 26 July 1999, Salcombe, Devon
Salcombe
Salcombe is a town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, built mostly on the steep west side of the estuary and lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
) was an English philosopher, a professor at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
from 1966 until his retirement in 1989 and a prominent proponent of Critical rationalism
Critical rationalism
Critical rationalism is an epistemological philosophy advanced by Karl Popper. Popper wrote about critical rationalism in his works, The Open Society and its Enemies Volume 2, and Conjectures and Refutations.- Criticism, not support :...
.
He married 1952 Micky Roe (one son, three daughters).
Military Service
In 1941, aged 17, Watkins passed out in the First Division from the Royal Naval CollegeBritannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
at Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
and went straight into the wartime Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He served in destroyers, escorting Russian convoys and the battleship carrying Churchill back from Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
.
In 1944 he was decorated with the DSC
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
for torpedoing a German destroyer off the French coast, part of an action which defeated the only remaining surface force that might have interfered with the Normandy landings.
Academic Career
Reading Friedrich von Hayek’sFriedrich Hayek
Friedrich August Hayek CH , born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought...
Road to Serfdom (1944) on his destroyer aroused his interest in attending the LSE
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
where Hayek taught. A First in Political Science and a prize-winning essay won him a Henry Ford Fellowship to Yale, where he graduated MA in 1950. Then he returned to the LSE as Assistant Lecturer in Political Science.
Watkins had attended Karl Popper’s
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
lectures at the LSE in logic and scientific method “and had fallen under his spell”. 1958 he shifted from the Government Department to Popper’s, being appointed Reader in Philosophy. Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos was a Hungarian philosopher of mathematics and science, known for his thesis of the fallibility of mathematics and its 'methodology of proofs and refutations' in its pre-axiomatic stages of development, and also for introducing the concept of the 'research programme' in his...
joined them in 1960. Watkins and Lakatos edited the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science is a philosophy journal that encourages the use of philosophical methods in addressing issues raised in the natural and human sciences....
, and Watkins was President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science
British Society for the Philosophy of Science
The British Society for the Philosophy of Science is a philosophical society based in England whose purpose is to promote the study of philosophy of science....
from 1972 until 1975. When Popper retired in 1970, Watkins took over his Chair.
At an international symposium on Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge held in London in 1965 Watkins replied to a paper in which Thomas S. Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
had compared his own theory of scientific revolutions
Paradigm shift
A Paradigm shift is, according to Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , a change in the basic assumptions, or paradigms, within the ruling theory of science...
with Popper’s falsificationism
Falsifiability
Falsifiability or refutability of an assertion, hypothesis or theory is the logical possibility that it can be contradicted by an observation or the outcome of a physical experiment...
. He saw a clash between
- [Kuhn’s view of the scientific community] as an essentially closed society, intermittently shaken by collective nervous breakdowns followed by restored mental unison, and Popper’s view that the scientific community ought to be, and to a considerable degree actually is, an open society in which no theory, however dominant and successful, no ‘paradigm’, to use Kuhn’s term, is ever sacred.”
Watkins wrote classic and much-anthologised papers about the influence of metaphysics on science, about methodological individualism
Methodological individualism
Methodological individualism is the theory that social phenomena can only be accurately explained by showing how they result from the intentional states that motivate the individual actors. The idea has been used to criticize historicism, structural functionalism, and the roles of social class,...
, and about historical explanation. In 1965 Watkins published Hobbes’s System of Ideas, in which he demonstrated that Thomas Hobbes’s
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
political theory follows from his philosophical ideas. His most important work was Science and Scepticism, published in 1984. In it he tried “to succeed where Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
failed", and show how science could survive in the face of scepticism. In his book Human Freedom after Darwin, posthumously published in 1999, he returned to a problem that had long occupied him.
After his retirement in 1989, Watkins played a leading role in establishing the Lakatos Award
Lakatos Award
The Lakatos Award is given annually for a contribution to the philosophy of science which is widely interpreted as outstanding. The contribution must be in the form of a book published in English during the previous six years....
in the Philosophy of Science as the pre-eminent scholarly distinction in the field, honouring his former colleague Imre Lakatos who had died, aged only 52, in 1974.
On 26 July 1999, eleven weeks after completing his book Human Freedom after Darwin, Watkins died of a heart attack while sailing his boat, Xantippe, on the Salcombe estuary
Kingsbridge Estuary
The Kingsbridge Estuary is located in the South Hams area of Devon, England, running from Kingsbridge in the north to its mouth at the English Channel near Salcombe...
, South Devon, England.
Obituaries
- Alan MusgraveAlan MusgraveAlan Musgrave is an English born New Zealand philosopher. Musgrave was educated at the London School of Economics with a BA Honours Philosophy and Economics 1961. Sir Karl Popper supervised Musgrave's PhD which was completed in 1969. Musgrave worked as Popper's Research Assistant initially then...
: Obituary: Professor John Watkins, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, August 5, 1999 - J. WorrallJohn Worrall (philosopher)John Worrall is a professor of philosophy of science at the London School of Economics. He is also associated with the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the same institution....
: Obituary. John Watkins (1924-1999), British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 50 (4), pp. 787-789.
Books
- Hobbes’s System of Ideas: A Study in the Political Significance of Philosophical Theories. London 1965 (Hutchinson); LSE reprint 1989, ISBN 978-0-566-07038-9
- Science and Scepticism. Princeton 1984 (Princeton University Press), ISBN 978-0-09-158010-0
- Human Freedom after DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
: A Critical Rationalist View. London 1999 (Open Court), ISBN 0-8126-9407-4
Essays
- Against ‘Normal Science’. In Imre LakatosImre LakatosImre Lakatos was a Hungarian philosopher of mathematics and science, known for his thesis of the fallibility of mathematics and its 'methodology of proofs and refutations' in its pre-axiomatic stages of development, and also for introducing the concept of the 'research programme' in his...
/Alan MusgraveAlan MusgraveAlan Musgrave is an English born New Zealand philosopher. Musgrave was educated at the London School of Economics with a BA Honours Philosophy and Economics 1961. Sir Karl Popper supervised Musgrave's PhD which was completed in 1969. Musgrave worked as Popper's Research Assistant initially then...
(eds.): Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge., London 1970 (Cambridge University Press), ISBN 0-521-07826-1, pp. 25-37. - Ideal Types and Historical Explanation. In Alan Ryan (ed.): The Philosophy of Social Explanation, London 1973 (Oxford University Press), ISBN 0-19-875025-0, pp. 82-104.
- The Unity of Popper’s Thought. In Paul A. SchilppPaul Arthur SchilppPaul Arthur Schilpp was an American educator.He was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States prior to World War I...
(ed.): The Philosophy of Karl Popper, Book I. La Salle, Illinois 1974 (Open Court), ISBN 0-87548-141-8, pp. 371-412.