Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-13T13:17:13.471Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Some Problems for “Progress and Its Problems”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

H. Krips
H. Krips*
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In a recent book, Laudan has put forward a new and provocative theory of scientific progress. In this discussion we shall show that some of the claims which Laudan presents as new, are (or at least can be made into) parts of more “traditional” wisdom. In particular (in Section 1) we shall criticize his claim to have uncovered a new class of non-refuting anomalies for theories. We shall also (in section 2) criticize Laudan's view that a theory may have an anomaly because of conflict with non-scientific theories—as long as those theories are perceived of as rational. Laudan's view of theory-assessment—via the assessment of “research traditions”—is also examined in this section. It is found to be a significant departure from both traditional, and more radical (Lakatosian, Kuhnian, Feyerabendian) alternatives. Finally, (in Section 3), we examine Laudan's claim that theories may have anomalies because of conflict with methodological theories.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , December 1980 , pp. 601 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © 1980 by Philosophy of Science Association

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

Einstein, A., Podolski, B., Rosen, N. (1935), Physical Review 47, 777–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lakatos, I. (1978), in “Philosophical Papers Vol.I,” Worrall, J. and Currie, G., (eds.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Laudan, L. (1977), “Progress and Its Problems,” Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Newton, I. (1952), “Opticks,” New York: Dover.Google Scholar
Popper, K. (1965) “Conjectures and Refutations” London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Popper, K. (1968), “The Logic of Scientific Discovery” London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar