Scientific Method

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 31 iul 1972

There remains only the obligation to thank those who have helped me with specific suggestions and the editors who have kindly granted permission to reprint material which first appeared in the pages of their journals. To the former group belong Alan B. Brinkley and Max O. Hocutt Portion of chap ters I and VI were published in Philosophy of Science; of chapters IV and V in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine; of chapter VIII in Dialectica; of chapter IX in The British lournal for the Philosophy of Science; and of chapter XIII in Synthese. J.K.F. New Orleans, 1971 PREFACE In this book I have tried to describe the scientific method, understood as the hypothetico-experimental technique of investigation which has been prac ticed so successfully in the physical sciences. It is the first volume of a three-volume work on the philosophy of science, each of which, however, is complete and independent. A second volume will contain an account of the domain in which the method operates and a history of empiricism. A third volume will be devoted to the philosophy of science proper: the metaphysics and epistemology presupposed by the method, its logical structure, and the ethical implications of its results.

Citește tot Restrânge

Cuprins

I. Introduction: Method, Domain and Findings.- 1. The understanding of science.- 2. The definition of science.- 3. The principal divisions of science.- 4. The multi-stage process.- 5. Beyond the mesocosm.- 6. The interpretation of science.- 7. The theory of practice.- 8. From theory to practice.- 9. Technology.- 10. From practice to theory.- 11. Cross-field applications.- 12. The aims of this handbook.- II. The Search for Data: Observation.- 1. Simple observation.- 2. Controlled observation.- 3. Observed facts.- III. The Search for Hypotheses: Induction.- 1. The derivation of classes.- 2. The formulation of inductions.- IV. The Adoption of an Hypotheses.- 1. Definition and description.- 2. Character.- 3. Criteria.- 4. Kinds.- 5. Occasions.- 6. Discovery.- 7. Function.- 8. Indispensability.- 9. Adoption.- V. The Testing of Hypotheses: Experiment.- 1. The meaning of “experiment”.- 2. The design of experiments.- 3. The logic of experiments.- 4. Experimental criteria.- 5. The use of instruments.- 6. Measurement.- 7. The use of techniques.- 8. Experimenting.- 9. Types of experiments.- 10. Varieties of results.- 11. Interpretations of the data.- 12. Empirical probability.- VI. The Testing of Theories: Calculation.- 1. The stage of mathematical verification.- 2. The requirements of a good scientific theory.- 3. The application of mathematics from the standpoint of mathematics.- 4. The application of mathematics from the standpoint of empirical formulations.- 5. Advanced mathematical verification.- 6. Difficulties of final formulations.- 7. The aim of deductive structures.- 8. Mathematical probability and causal law.- VII. The Testing of Laws: Prediction and Control.- 1. Prediction.- 2. Control.- 3. The end of scientific investigation.- VIII. Types of EmpiricalDiscoveries.- 1. Empirical systems.- 2. Empirical areas.- 3. Laws.- 4. Entities.- 5. Processes.- 6. Formulas and rules.- 7. Procedural principles.- 8. The limits of empirical discovery.- References.