Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:14:49.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Theoretical Functions, Theory and Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

John Forge
John Forge*
Affiliation:
School of History and Philosophy of Science, University of New South Wales
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Glymour's account of confirmation is seen to have paradoxical consequences when applied to the confirmation of theories containing theoretical functions. An alternative conception of instances derived from Sneed's reconstruction of physical theories is conjoined with the instance view of confirmation to produce an account of confirmation that avoids these problems. The topic of selective confirmation is discussed, and it is argued that theories containing theoretical functions are not selectively confirmable.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , September 1984 , pp. 443 - 463
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

I should like to thank David Oldroyd, Barbara Davidson and this journal's anonymous referee for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.

References

Balzer, W., and Moulines, C. U. (1980), “On Theoreticity”, Synthese 44: 467–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balzer, W., and Sneed, J. D. (1977), “Generalised Net Structures of Empirical Theories”, Studia Logica 37: 195–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnap, R. (1966), Philosophical Foundations of Physics. Gardner, M. (ed.). New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Forge, J. C. (1980), “The Structure of Physical Explanation”, Philosophy of Science 47: 203–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forge, J. C. (1983), “Theoretical Explanation in Physical Science”, submitted to Australasian Journal of Philosophy.Google Scholar
Forge, J. C. (1984), “Theoretical Functions in Physical Science”, forthcoming in Erkenntnis.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glymour, C. (1980), Theory and Evidence. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Moulines, C. U. (1975), “A Logical Reconstruction of Simple Equilibrium Thermodynamics”, Erkenntnis 9: 101–30.Google Scholar
Poincaré, H. (1952), Science and Hypothesis. New York: Dover.Google Scholar
Sneed, J. D. (1979), The Logical Structure of Mathematical Physics. Rev. Ed. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sneed, J. D., and Moulines, C. U. (1979), “Suppes' Philosophy of Physics,” in Patrick Suppes, Bogden, R. J. (ed.). Dordrecht: D. Reidel.Google Scholar
Stegmüller, W. (1976), The Structure and Dynamics of Theories. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suppes, P. (1970), Set-Theoretical Structures in Science. Mimeo.Google Scholar
Worrall, J. (1982), “Critical Notice: Theory and Evidence”, Erkenntnis 18: 105–30.Google Scholar