Under-determined empirical theories by the evidence
The underdetermination empirical theories by the evidence (Engl. Underdetermination of theories by evidence ) refers to several variants epistemological theses. Accordingly, for any theory that is confirmed by certain empirical observations , there is at least one alternative theory that is also supported by exactly the same empirical data. In other words: often / always the choice between a theory and one or more alternative theory (s) is not determined (“determined”) by certain / any empirical data.
Such underdetermination theses are controversial, just as they are to be precisely formulated and explicated at all . If one accepts the Duhem-Quine thesis or certain other holistic theses, an underdetermination thesis i follows. d. R. simply. Arguments for an under-determination thesis can also support a general epistemological anti- realism. An early and well-known representative of this argumentation strategy is Bas van Fraassen .
Thomas Kuhn tried to explain the history of scientific theory formation in such a way that cases repeatedly occurred in which a decision between alternative theories is excluded insofar as these themselves are accompanied by different interpretations of the evidence base, which could be described as a stronger variant of an underdetermination thesis.
literature
- Richard Boyd : On the Current Status of Scientific Realism. In: Knowledge 19 (1984), pp. 45-90.
- Richard Boyd: Underdetermination, and a Causal Theory of Evidence. In: Noûs 7/1 (1973), pp. 1–12 ( PDF; 207 kB ( Memento from July 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )).
- Thomas Bonk: Underdetermination. An essay on evidence and the limits of natural knowledge. Springer, Dordrecht 2008. (Lists and takes into account the most important things about older literature.)
- John Earman : Underdetermination, Realism, and Reason , in: Midwest Studies in Philosophy 18 (1993), pp. 19-38.
- Bas van Fraassen : The Scientific Image , Clarendon Press, Oxford 1980.
Web links
- Kyle Stanford: Underdetermination of Scientific Theory. In: Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .