From Aristotle to Feyerabend, the history of the philosophy of science can be mapped out across four stages. Systematicity Theory might lead the way to the fifth, writes Paul Hoyningen-Huene.

When discussing a philosophical question, it is sometimes useful to investigate the history of that question and its answers. The question I am dealing with here is: what makes science special? I assume that scientific knowledge is indeed special primarily by being more reliable than other kinds of knowledge, but also better in some other senses.