Nickles (Ed.) (1980)
Nickles, Thomas. (Ed.). (1980) Scientific Discovery, Logic and Rationality. D Reidel Publishing Company.
| Title | Scientific Discovery, Logic and Rationality |
|---|---|
| Resource Type | collection |
| Author(s) | Thomas Nickles |
| Year | 1980 |
| Publisher | D Reidel Publishing Company |
| ISBN | 9789027710697 |
Abstract
The scope of the Theory of Scientific Change (TSC) encompasses any and all changes that occur in a given scientific mosaic, the set of all methods employed and theories accepted at a given time by a given scientific community. Currently, a theory is defined as a set of propositions that attempts to describe something. This definition excludes normative propositions from the scope of the TSC. Normative theories, such as those of methodology or ethics, have been excluded since including them appears to give rise to a destructive paradox first identified by Joel Burkholder. There are many historical cases where employed scientific methods are known to conflict with professed methodologies. This seems to violate the third and zeroth laws of scientific change. By the third law, employed methods are deducible from accepted theories. But, this seems impossible in cases where methodologies and methods conflict. Under the zeroth law, all elements in the scientific mosaic are compatible with one another. But, that seems to be clearly not the case if methodologies and methods conflict with one another. In this paper, I argue that normative propositions such as methodologies can be included in the scientific mosaic as accepted theories without generating a paradox and that neither the third nor zeroth laws of scientific change need be violated. I outline my solution to the paradox and conclude by describing some new and exciting avenues for future research that are now open.
Articles in This Collection
Here are the articles from this collection listed in the bibliographic records:
- Shapere (1980): Shapere, Dudley. (1980) The Character of Scientific Change. In Nickles (Ed.) (1980), 61-116.
- Laudan (1980): Laudan, Larry. (1980) Why Was the Logic of Scientific Discovery Abandoned? In Nickles (Ed.) (1980), 173-183.
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