- Title Pages
- Preface
- Contributors
- 1 Ordinary Language and the Unordinary Philosophy of Peter Achinstein
- 2 Evidence, External Validity, and Explanatory Relevance
- 3 Maxwell, Matter, and Method: Maxwellian Methodology, Methodological Maxwellianism, and Methods of Historical and Philosophical Speculation
- 4 Achinstein's Newtonian Empiricism
- 5 Evidence and Objectivity in Achinstein's Philosophy of Science
- 6 A Defense of Achinstein's Pragmatism about Explanation
- 7 On the Very Idea of a Theory of Evidence
- 8 Mill on the Hypothetical Method: A Discussion of Achinstein's Defense of Mill and Newton on Induction
- 9 Waves, Particles, Independent Tests, and the Limits of Inductivism
- 10 What's So Great about an Objective Concept of Evidence?
- 11 The Objective Epistemic Probabilist and the Severe Tester
- 12 Achinstein and Whewell on Theoretical Coherence
- 13 Observationally Indistinguishable Spacetimes: A Challenge for Any Inductivist
- 14 Making Contact with Molecules: On Perrin and Achinstein
- 15 Achinstein and the Evidence for Evolution
- 16 The Place of Artificial Selection in Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection
- 17 Evidence and Justification
- 18 What Was Perrin's Real Achievement?
- 19 Causes, Conditions, and the Pragmatics of Causal Explanation
- 20 Achinstein's Replies
- Index
On the Very Idea of a Theory of Evidence
On the Very Idea of a Theory of Evidence
- Chapter:
- (p.84) 7 On the Very Idea of a Theory of Evidence
- Source:
- Philosophy of Science Matters
- Author(s):
Philip Kitcher (Contributor Webpage)
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The Book of Evidence develops a theory that provides intricate and interesting solutions to problems that have worried philosophers for several decades. For that it deserves to be celebrated. But this chapter argues that it fails to answers the “dean's challenge,” to provide a kind of understanding of evidence that working scientists will find illuminating. To do so would require a very different kind of theory that no philosopher has yet provided.
Keywords: evidence, Achinstein, philosophy of science
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- Title Pages
- Preface
- Contributors
- 1 Ordinary Language and the Unordinary Philosophy of Peter Achinstein
- 2 Evidence, External Validity, and Explanatory Relevance
- 3 Maxwell, Matter, and Method: Maxwellian Methodology, Methodological Maxwellianism, and Methods of Historical and Philosophical Speculation
- 4 Achinstein's Newtonian Empiricism
- 5 Evidence and Objectivity in Achinstein's Philosophy of Science
- 6 A Defense of Achinstein's Pragmatism about Explanation
- 7 On the Very Idea of a Theory of Evidence
- 8 Mill on the Hypothetical Method: A Discussion of Achinstein's Defense of Mill and Newton on Induction
- 9 Waves, Particles, Independent Tests, and the Limits of Inductivism
- 10 What's So Great about an Objective Concept of Evidence?
- 11 The Objective Epistemic Probabilist and the Severe Tester
- 12 Achinstein and Whewell on Theoretical Coherence
- 13 Observationally Indistinguishable Spacetimes: A Challenge for Any Inductivist
- 14 Making Contact with Molecules: On Perrin and Achinstein
- 15 Achinstein and the Evidence for Evolution
- 16 The Place of Artificial Selection in Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection
- 17 Evidence and Justification
- 18 What Was Perrin's Real Achievement?
- 19 Causes, Conditions, and the Pragmatics of Causal Explanation
- 20 Achinstein's Replies
- Index
