Allchin (2001)
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Allchin, Douglas. (2001) The Epistemology of error. unpublished manuscript. Retrieved from http://douglasallchin.net/papers/epist'of.pdf..
Title | The Epistemology of error |
---|---|
Resource Type | journal article |
Author(s) | Douglas Allchin |
Year | 2001 |
URL | http://douglasallchin.net/papers/epist'of.pdf. |
Journal | unpublished manuscript |
Abstract
How do scientists know—and justify—that they have erred? The question virtually bristles with paradox. Error seems the very antithesis of knowledge. How could one justify such a "negative" discovery? Oddly perhaps, to know that a claim deemed right in one context is wrong requires justification. I focus here on this dimension of the scientific enterprise, the ascertaining of error, and its relation to the general problem of characterizing reliable knowledge.