The Failings of Standard Empiricism
This chapter first expresses that standard empiricism does not give justice to the achievements of modern science. The chapter then presents ten problems that standard empiricism cannot solve: the practical, theoretical, and methodological problems of induction; the problem of what simplicity is; the problem of the rationale of preferring simple to complex theories; the problem of the theoretical character of evidence; the problem of the rejection of evidence when it clashes with theory; the problem of the meaning of scientific progress; the problem of progress in knowledge about the nature of fundamental physical entities; and the problem of scientific discovery. Lastly, it concludes that standard empiricism falls on the basis that evidence alone cannot conceivably determine choice of theory in science.
Keywords: modern science, problems of induction, problem of simplicity, rejection of evidence, scientific progress, problem of evidence, scientific discovery
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .