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The Epistemology of a Spectrometer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Daniel Rothbart  and
Suzanne W. Slayden
Daniel Rothbart*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies George Mason University
Suzanne W. Slayden*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry George Mason University
*
‡Send reprint requests to Daniel Rothbart, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, George Mason University, 4400 University Blvd., Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.
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Abstract

Contrary to the assumptions of empiricist philosophies of science, the theory-laden character of data will not imply the inherent failure (subjectivity, circularity, or rationalization) of instruments to expose nature's secrets. The success of instruments is credited to scientists' capacity to create artificial technological analogs to familiar physical systems. The design of absorption spectrometers illustrates the point: Progress in designing many modern instruments is generated by analogically projecting theoretical insights from known physical systems to unknown terrain. An experimental realism is defended.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 61 , Issue 1 , March 1994 , pp. 25 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

We greatly appreciate comments on earlier drafts from Rom Harré, Mary Hesse, Emmett Holman, and especially an anonymous referee for this journal.

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