Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:42:01.901Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

In Defense of Duhem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Francis Seaman*
Affiliation:
University of Idaho

Abstract

Adolph Grünbaum has argued that Duhem's conventionalism is false for the case of Euclidean geometry ([6], [7], [8]). According to Duhem, any portion of a physical theory can be preserved from falsifiability by providing suitable modifications elsewhere in the theory. Grünbaum argues that physical theory is composed of two parts: A geometrical part H, and a physical part A. For his test case—Euclidean geometry—he contends that by a suitable specification of A, a falsification of H is possible; i.e., H can be rendered “accessible to experimental ascertainment in isolation from other physical regularities.”

Type
Discussion
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1965

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.)

References

[1] Duhem, P., The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[2] Einstein, A., The Meaning of Relativity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955).Google Scholar
[3] Einstein, A., “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity,” The Principle of Relativity (New York: Dover, 1923), pp. 11164.Google Scholar
[4] Einstein, A., “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” The Principle of Relativity (New York: Dover, 1923), pp. 3765.Google Scholar
[5] Einstein, A., “Reply to Criticisms,” Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist (New York: Tudor, 1949), pp. 665688.Google Scholar
[6] Grünbaum, A., “The Duhemian Argument,” Philosophy of Science, 27, pp. 7587, (1960).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[7] Grünbaum, A., “Geometry, Chronometry, and Empiricism,” Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, III (Minneapolis, 1962), pp. 405526.Google Scholar
[8] Grünbaum, A., “Law and Convention in Physical Theory,” Current Issues in the Philosophy of Science (New York: Holt, 1961), pp. 140155.Google Scholar
[9] Grünbaum, A., “Relativity and the Atomicity of Becoming,” Review of Metaphysics, IV, pp. 143186, (1950).Google Scholar
[10] Grünbaum, A., “Discussion: The Structure of Science,” Philosophy of Science, 29, pp. 294305, (1962).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[11] Rainich, G. Y., Mathematics of Relativity (New York: Wiley, 1950).Google Scholar
[12] Whitehead, A. N., The Concept of Nature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1920).Google Scholar
[13] Whitehead, A. N., The Principles of Natural Knowledge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1919).Google Scholar
[14] Whitehead, A. N., The Principle of Relativity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1922).Google Scholar
[15] Whitehead, A. N., Process and Reality (New York: Macmillan, 1929).Google Scholar