From Theoretical to Stylistic Pluralism: Art, Science, and the Epistemology of Style

Abstract

This paper explores the notion of style at the intersection of the arts and the sciences and uses it to historicize and revise the terms of the divide between the two. In this framework, the paper critically engages with Ian Hacking’s concept of styles of scientific reasoning. While Hacking resists drawing strong analogies between artistic and scientific styles, I argue that this resistance obscures productive points of contact between the two domains. By placing Hacking’s account in dialogue with Ernst Gombrich’s reflections on artistic tradition and problem-solving, as well as Nelson Goodman’s analysis of symbol systems and worldmaking, the paper reassesses the significance of style beyond the confines of scientific reasoning. In doing so, it also revisits the relation between theoretical pluralism and stylistic pluralism, suggesting that styles provide a deeper framework than theories for understanding pluralism across both the sciences and the arts.