I. History

The theory or philosophy of science is the theory of the conditions – in particular the structure, acquisition, and explication – of (institutionalized) scientific knowledge(Science); as such it is part of theoretical philosophy.

There were already antecedents in antiquity, especially in Plato and Aristotle but also among the Stoics in the distinction (observed into the modern period) between immutable (true) knowledge, (variable) opinion, and belief. In the Middle Ages…