Theories of Scientific Method

About this book

Robert Nola and Howard Sankey provide an authoritative and comprehensive examination of the major theories of scientific method and the demarcation of science of the past fifty years. Beginning with the question of what methodology might mean, the authors explore the distinction between discovery and justification, and the ideas of values, rules, and principles. The authors consider induction and its alternatives including abduction and Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE), hypothetico-deductive method and the idea of testability.

They discuss what a theory is, and consider axiomatic and semantic views, but also the idea of idealised models and the methodology of concretising ideal models. Probability and Bayesianism are also examined in detail. Popper's theory of scientific method and the demarcation of science, Lakatos's scientific research programmes, and Feyerabend's anarchism are all considered in turn. Naturalist methodologies, such as those proposed by Quine, Laudan and Rescher are also examined, as well as the extreme naturalism of the Strong programme in the sociology of knowledge, and empirical studies of methodology that arise out of cognitive science. Informed by the latest thinking, the book offers students an excellent introduction to the idea of scientific method and a wide-ranging discussion of how philosophers and scientists have grappled with the question over recent years.

Contents

Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: The idea of methodolgy 1. What is this thing called scientific method? 2. Theoretical values in science 3. Rules and principles of method 4. Metamethodology Part II: Inductive and hypothetico-deductive methods 5. Induction in science 6. Some justifications of induction 7. The hypothetico-deductive method Part III: Probability and scientific method 8. Probability, bayesianism and methodology 9. Bayesianism: applications and problems Part IV: Popper and his rivals 10. Popper, Lakatos and scientific method 11. Kuhn and Feyerabend Part V: Naturalism, pragmatism, realism and methodology 12. Naturalism, pragmatism and method 13. Scientific realism and methodology Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

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Biography

Robert Nola is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland. Howard Sankey is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne.