Riassunto
Those who speak of the philosophy of science do not all have the same sort of study in mind. For some it is speculation about the overall nature of the world. Others take it to be basic theory of knowledge and perception. And for still others, it is a branch of philosophical analysis focused speci fically on science. The present book is meant to be a study falling under this last category. Generally, such a study has two aspects: one, methodological, dealing with the logical structure of science, the other, substantive, dealing with scientific concepts. Our concern here is primarily methodological; and, where discussion veers at times towards substantive matters, this will be largely for the purpose of illustrating underlying methodological points. It should also be added that our considerations will be of a general sort, intended to apply to all of science with no special concern for any particular divisions. Except in an incidental manner, therefore, we shall give no primary attention to special problems in the methodology of the social sciences or in the philosophy of physics or of biology. And if we draw the larger portion of our examples from the physical rather than from the behavioral sciences, this is done merely for simplicity, succinctness, and similar conveniences of exposition rather than out of specialized concern for any particular area.
Contenuti
I. Analytical Philosophy of Science.- A. What is the Philosophy of Science?.- B. Methods of Analytical Philosophy.- C. Methods of Analytical Philosophy of Science.- D. The Analytical Account of Science.- E. Philosophical Analysis of Science and a Theory of Science.- II. What Science is: an Introductory Consideration.- A. Science and Non-Science.- B. Science and Common Sense.- C. Some Distinguishing Features of Science.- D. Distinctive Aspects of Control on Scientific Inferences.- E. Empiricist Background and Significance.- III. Ampliative Science.- (I) Discovery.- A. Proposal and Acceptance.- B. Discovery: An Old Question.- C. The Idea of a Logic of Discovery.- D. On the Possibility of a Logic of Discovery.- E. Patterns of Discovery.- F. Reasons vs. Causes (II) Acceptance.- A. Confirmation.- B. Does Discovery Differ from Acceptance in Some Important Logical Respect?.- C. Summary.- IV. Subsumptive Science: Systemization.- A. A Broad Distinction: Ampliative and Subsumptive Inference.- B. Nomic Inferences: Introductory Background.- C. Nomic Inferences with Singular Conclusions.- D. Explanation, a Species of Nomic Inference.- E. A Detour: The Causal Relation.- F. Back to Explanation Again.- G. Patterns of Nomic Inference.- H. Summary.- V. Other Aspects of Nomic Inference.- A. Are There non-Nomic Explanations?.- B. Functional (Teleological) Accounts.- C. Derivations: Nomic Inferences with Nomic Conclusions.- D. Probabilistic Nomic Inference.- E. Summary.- VI. Nomic Statements (I): Scientific Laws.- A. Introduction: Necessary Truth, Logic and Factual Science.- B. Universal Laws.- C. Statistical Laws.- D. Summary.- VII. Nomic Statements (II): Theories, Models, Analogy.- A. Theory and Observational Laws.- B. The Formal Structuring of Theories.- C. Models.- D. Formalization and Scientific Theory.- E. Analogical Content in Theories.- F. Recapitulation: What is a Scientific Theory?.- VIII. Glimpses Beyond.- A. Overview.- B. Conventionalistic Trends.- C. Incommensurability; Non-reduction and Non-accumu lationof Scientific Knowledge.- D. Non-methodism.- E. The History and Philosophy of Science.
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