Abstract
Philosophy of science as an academic discipline was established during the first half of the 20th century. Since its inception, it has undergone various transitions with respect to both the scope of its subject matter and its methodological underpinnings.
I will discuss both of these aspects, giving an overview of the development of the discipline: from logical empiricism, the historical school associated most notably with Thomas Kuhn, the new experimentalism movement of the 1980s, to the new mechanism movement of the 2000s. I will conclude by sketching the future of the philosophy of science which, I argue, will become much more practice-oriented and socially relevant, as evidenced by the rapid growth of societies such as the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice.