Leviathan and the Air Pump

A Historical Study of the Emergence of the Laboratory Style and the Creation of Phenomena

Abstract

Leviathan and the Air Pump represents, for Hacking, a story of unparalleled value for illustrating and working on several of his fundamental projects. It is the story of the historical conditions of possibility that allowed, in the 17th century, the emergence of the laboratory style of thinking & doing, based on the creation of a device in the experimental cabinet -the pump- with which to intervene in the world and create a new phenomenon -the void. Just as The Emergence of Probability and The Taming of Chance constitute not only examples of the application of scientific styles, but also the historical background that inspires this Hackinian notion, in Shapin y Schaffer’s book, Hacking finds the historical background for the new style he proposes: the laboratory style. This paper begins by presenting Hacking's proposed styles of scientific thinking & doing, then focuses on his characterization of the laboratory style. It concludes with an analysis of Hacking’s use of the history of Hobbes, Boyle, and the vacuum pump to illustrate his aforementioned projects.