Against Method (AM for Short)
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Would ''Direct Realism'' Resolve the Classical Problem of Induction?
NOU^S 38:2 (2004) 197–232 Would ‘‘Direct Realism’’ Resolve the Classical Problem of Induction? MARC LANGE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill I Recently, there has been a modest resurgence of interest in the ‘‘Humean’’ problem of induction. For several decades following the recognized failure of Strawsonian ‘‘ordinary-language’’ dissolutions and of Wesley Salmon’s elaboration of Reichenbach’s pragmatic vindication of induction, work on the problem of induction languished. Attention turned instead toward con- firmation theory, as philosophers sensibly tried to understand precisely what it is that a justification of induction should aim to justify. Now, however, in light of Bayesian confirmation theory and other developments in epistemology, several philosophers have begun to reconsider the classical problem of induction. In section 2, I shall review a few of these developments. Though some of them will turn out to be unilluminating, others will profitably suggest that we not meet inductive scepticism by trying to justify some alleged general principle of ampliative reasoning. Accordingly, in section 3, I shall examine how the problem of induction arises in the context of one particular ‘‘inductive leap’’: the confirmation, most famously by Henrietta Leavitt and Harlow Shapley about a century ago, that a period-luminosity relation governs all Cepheid variable stars. This is a good example for the inductive sceptic’s purposes, since it is difficult to see how the sparse background knowledge available at the time could have entitled stellar astronomers to regard their observations as justifying this grand inductive generalization. I shall argue that the observation reports that confirmed the Cepheid period- luminosity law were themselves ‘‘thick’’ with expectations regarding as yet unknown laws of nature. -
Arthur Pap Archive I. Manuscripts and Typscripts I.1
Arthur Pap Archive Inventory of the „Nachlass“ of Arthur Pap at the Institute Vienna Circle, by Christoph Limbeck-Lilienau I. Manuscripts and Typscripts I.1 Pap „Absolute Motion and the Clock Paradox“ [1953], 34 p., A4, Typscript Box 1/Folder 1 “Are Physical Magnitudes Operally Definable?” 1959, Typscript with a few handwritten corrections, 19 p., A4, 9 carbon copies. Published in: Box 1/2 Abstract for: “Are Physical Magnitudes Operally Definable?” 1956, Typscript, 3 p., A4 Box 1/3 “Are Physical Magnitudes Operationally Definable?” 1959, Typscript, 19 p., A4, Typscript, Box 1/3 “Are Physical Magnitudes Operationally Definable?” 1959, Typscript, 19 p., A4, Typscript, 8 Copies Box 1/3 “Basic Propositions, Certainty, and Intersubjective Language” [1958], Typscript, 21 p., A4 Box 1/4 “Basic Propositions, Certainty, and Intersubjective Language” [1960], Typscript, marginal handwritten corrections, 21 p., A4 Box 1/4 “Belief and Natural-Language-Intentions” No Date, Typscript, 5 p., A4 (from “Manila Folder”) Box 1/4 Abstract for: “Belief and Proposition” No Date, Typscript, 1 p., A4 Box 1/ 4 “Comments on M. Scriven´s `Certain Weaknesses in the Deductive Model of Explanation´” [1955], 5 p., A4, Typscript, Copy, (Original in the letter of M. Scriven from May 9, 1955) Scriven´s Reply is “Reply to Pap General Points-Specific Points”. Box 1/ 4 Critical Comments on Paul Weiss´ “Real Possibility” No Date, 3 p., A4, Typescript Box 1/ 4 “Mr. O´Connor on Incompatibility” [1955 or later], 4 p., A4, Typescript Box 1/ 4 Criticism of Sellars´ “On the Logic of Complex particulars” (from a letter of July 28) No Date, Typscript, 3 p., A4 (from “Manila Folder”) Box 1/4 1 “The Dispensibility of Material Implication for Applied Logic” 1959, Typescript with handwritten additions, 13 p., A4 (Contains a letter of rejection by John Rawls, see Correspondence “Rawls” (No. -
The Saratoga Sun Rockin' out at the Yard
THE PLATTE VALLEY’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1888 THE SARATOGA SUN WEDNESDAY • JUNE 11, 2014 • VOLUME 127 • NO. 45 • $1 Public asks for Rockin’ out at The Yard transparency with proposed budget By Mike Dunn going to (interrupt) tonight. I’m Despite the short agenda and done. [Cox] will get it done, she 20 minute meeting, the June 3 will do it for you. You are not Saratoga Town Council meeting going to sit there and carry on …” was filled with heated discus- Hetherington asked “the ques- sions between Mayor John Zeiger tion is simple: is she going to and Saratoga residents. make it available to us before - ” Ordinance 826, an ordinance Hetherington was interrupted to provide the necessary income again by Zeiger before Hetherin- to finance the 2014-2015 fiscal ton could complete his sentence. year, was passed by the Saratoga Zeiger attempted to move to town council on the third read- the next item on the agenda. He ing. The ordinance proposes the was openly criticized by the au- town raise $2,954,874.41 for the dience for cutting Hetherington general fund. off in the middle of his statement. Saratoga resident and candi- Brad Cary proposed the idea date for Mayor of Saratoga Glee of placing the budget for public Johnson asked the council if a view on the town’s website. line item budget was available Thompson said he would have for public view before a final to examine the law to see if post- budget is proposed. ing the budget online would be Town Clerk Suzie Cox said allowed. -
In the Later Philosophy of Paul Feyerabend
Durham E-Theses Pluralism and the 'Problem of Reality' in the Later Philosophy of Paul Feyerabend KIDD, IAN,JAMES How to cite: KIDD, IAN,JAMES (2010) Pluralism and the 'Problem of Reality' in the Later Philosophy of Paul Feyerabend, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/864/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Kidd Pluralism and the ‘Problem of Reality’ in the Later Philosophy of Paul Feyerabend Abstract Feyerabend’s later philosophy was a sustained defence of cultural and epistemic diversity. After Against Method (1975) Feyerabend argued that his rejection of methodological monism challenged the presumed unity and superiority of scientific knowledge and practices. His later philosophy was therefore dedicated to a reassessment of the merits of a wide range of ‘non-scientific’ traditions present throughout non-Western indigenous cultures. -
Paul Feyerabend
Against Method Fourth Edition Paul Feyerabend VERSO London • New York Analytical Index Being a Sketch of the Main Argument Introdnction 1 Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its law-and-order alternatives. 1 7 This is shown both by an examination of historical episodes and by an abstract analysis of the relation between idea and action. The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes. 2 13 For example, we may use hypotheses that contradict well-confirmed theories and/or well-established experimental results. We may advance science by proceeding counterinductively. 3 17 The consistency condition which demands that new hypotheses agree with accepted theories is unreasonable because it preserves the older theory, and not the better theory. Hypotheses contradicting well-confirmed theories give us evidence that cannot be obtained in any other way. Proliferation of theories is beneficial for science, while uniformity impairs its critical power. Uniformity also endangers the free development of the individual. 4 ~ There is no idea, however ancient and absurd, that is not capable of improving our knowledge. The whole history of thought is absorbed into science and is used for improving every single theory. Nor is political interference rejected. It may be needed to overcome the chauvinism of science that resists alternatives to the status quo. xxx ANAL YTICAL INDEX 5 33 No theory ever agrees with all the facts in its domain, yet it is not always the theory that is to blame. Facts are constituted by older ideologies, and a clash between facts and theories may be proof ofprogress. -
CURRICULUM VITAE January, 2018 DANIEL GARBER
CURRICULUM VITAE January, 2018 DANIEL GARBER Position: A. Watson Armour III University Professor of Philosophy Address: Department of Philosophy 1879 Hall Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08544-1006 Address (September 2017-July 2018) Institut d’études avancées 17, quai d’Anjou 75004 Paris France Telephone: 609-258-4307 (voice) 609-258-1502 (FAX) 609-258-4289 (Departmental office) Email: [email protected] Erdös number: 16 EDUCATIONAL RECORD Harvard University, 1967-1975 A.B. in Philosophy, 197l A.M. in Philosophy, 1974 Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1975 TEACHING EXPERIENCE Princeton University 2002- Professor of Philosophy and Associated Faculty, Program in the History of Science 2005-12 Chair, Department of Philosophy 2008-09 Old Dominion Professor 2009- Associated Faculty, Department of Politics 2009-16 Stuart Professor of Philosophy Garber -2- 2016- A. Watson Armour III University Professor of Philosophy University of Chicago 1995-2002 Lawrence Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy, the Committee on Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, the Morris Fishbein Center for Study of History of Science and Medicine and the College 1986-2002 Professor 1982-86 Associate Professor (with tenure) 1975-82 Assistant Professor 1998-2002 Chairman, Committee on Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science (formerly Conceptual Foundations of Science) 2001 Acting Chairman, Department of Philosophy 1995-98 Associate Provost for Education and Research 1994-95 Chairman, Conceptual Foundations of Science 1987-94 Chairman, Department of Philosophy Harvard College 1972-75 Teaching Assistant and Tutor University of Minnesota, Spring 1979, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy Johns Hopkins University, 1980-1981, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy Princeton University 1982-1983 Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1985-1986, Member École Normale Supérieure (Lettres) (Lyon, France), November 2000, Professeur invitée. -
Kuhnian Incommensurability Between Two Paradigms of Contemporary Linguistics
Kuhnian Incommensurability Between Two Paradigms of Contemporary Linguistics Philip Smith Ph.D. Thesis School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics The University of Sheffield March 2011 Slowly we are learning, We at least know this much, That we have to unlearn Much that we were taught, And are growing chary Of emphatic dogmas; Love like matter is much Odder than we thought. From 'Heavy Date' by W.H.Auden I must review my disbelief in angels. Brian Patten - Angel Wings Abstract This dissertation proposes a theory of reference for the language of scien- tific theories. This theory of reference looks at the nature of postulation in scientific theories, and shows that mental posits are metaphorical in na- ture. It is a hybrid of internalist and extensive reference theories. This, allied with the competing epistemological assumptions of competing schools of ltngutsttcs, can account for the existence of incommensurability across two paradigms of ltngutsttcs, The relationship between transformational generative grammar and socio- linguistics is vexed. Both claim the same object of study, but with radi- cally different methods and aims. This dissertation shows that the meta- phorical nature of the posits used in each leads to incommensurable vo- cabularies. Thomas Kuhn's notions of paradigms and incommensurability are used to elucidate this relationship. Chapter one proposes and explains the theory of reference. Chapter two defines the major areas of the thesis. Chapter three explores the history of linguists claiming that a particular area of linguistics instantiates a Kuhnian paradigm, and looks at arguments concerning the possibilities for studying language scientifically. Chapter four explores the epistemological bases of TGG and sociolinguistics, starting from Chomsky's claims to do 'Cartesian linguistics', and concludes that opposing epistemological com- mitments lead to incommensurability. -
The Epistemology of Testimony
Pergamon Stud. His. Phil. Sci., Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 1-31, 1998 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0039-3681/98 $19.004-0.00 The Epistemology of Testimony Peter Lipton * 1. Introduction Is there anything you know entirely off your own bat? Your knowledge depends pervasively on the word of others. Knowledge of events before you were born or outside your immediate neighborhood are the obvious cases, but your epistemic dependence on testimony goes far deeper that this. Mundane beliefs-such as that the earth is round or that you think with your brain-almost invariably depend on testimony, and even quite personal facts-such as your birthday or the identity of your biological parents--can only be known with the help of others. Science is no refuge from the ubiquity of testimony. At least most of the theories that a scientist accepts, she accepts because of what others say. The same goes for almost all the data, since she didn’t perform those experiments herself. Even in those experiments she did perform, she relied on testimony hand over fist: just think of all those labels on the chemicals. Even her personal observations may have depended on testimony, if observation is theory-laden, since those theories with which it is laden were themselves accepted on testimony. Even if observation were not theory-laden, the testimony-ladenness of knowledge should be beyond dispute. We live in a sea of assertions and little if any of our knowledge would exist without it. If the role of testimony in knowledge is so vast, why is its role in the history of epistemology so slight? Why doesn’t the philosophical canon sparkle with titles such as Meditations on Testimony, A Treatise Concerning Human Testimony, and Language, Truth and Testimony? The answer is unclear. -
Towards a Vibrant & Broad African
Library.Anarhija.Net Towards a Vibrant & Broad African-Based Anarchism Ashanti Alston Ashanti Alston Towards a Vibrant & Broad African-Based Anarchism 2003 Retrieved on 17 August 2015 from http://www.newformulation.org/3alston.htm lib.anarhija.net 2003 Contents Wole Soyinka’s Anarchism ................. 3 African Anarchism: The History of a Movement . 10 Conclusion .......................... 14 Notes ............................. 16 2 I am always on the search for cutting edge, challenging think- ing within anarchism and other fields of revolutionary theory: the search for how to get beyond ’stuck.’ As a Black anarchist I have looked for writings specifically related to the problems and chal- lenges that I face, and that my people face here in the United States, and that can help us organize for self-determination and destroy the very basis upon which all oppressive systems operate. Of the activist ”isms,” anarchism, at least in theory, promotes the kind of openness and risk-taking that actually encourages the constant re- generation necessary to meet new revolutionary challenges. The price to pay, often, is getting ”uncomfortable,” being ”jarred,” even in terms of what one understood as the anti-authoritarian or anar- chist canon. The two works reviewed here, Post-Colonial African Theory and Practice: Wole Soyinka’s Anarchism and African Anarchism: The His- tory of a Movement, come from authors trapped in vicious post- colonial hells. They have ”stretched their necks” to see andun- derstand differently in order to just ”breathe” and fight back. The stretching and openness to new information, new insights, is what keeps anarchism and other radical perspectives fresh and evolving to meet our planetary needs. -
Einstein, History, and Other Passions : the Rebellion Against Science at the End of the Twentieth Century
Einstein, history, and other passions : the rebellion against science at the end of the twentieth century The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Holton, Gerald James. 2000. Einstein, history, and other passions : the rebellion against science at the end of the twentieth century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Published Version http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674004337 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:23975375 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA EINSTEIN, HISTORY, ANDOTHER PASSIONS ;/S*6 ? ? / ? L EINSTEIN, HISTORY, ANDOTHER PASSIONS E?3^ 0/" Cf72fM?y GERALD HOLTON A HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS C%772^r?<%gf, AizziMc^zzyeZZy LozzJozz, E?zg/%??J Q AOOO Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Addison-Wesley was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in capital letters. PHYSICS RESEARCH LIBRARY NOV 0 4 1008 Copyright @ 1996 by Gerald Holton All rights reserved HARVARD UNIVERSITY Printed in the United States of America An earlier version of this book was published by the American Institute of Physics Press in 1995. First Harvard University Press paperback edition, 2000 o/ CoMgre.w C%t%/og;Hg-zM-PMMt'%tz'c7t Dzztzz Holton, Gerald James. -
Mathematics of the Gateway Arch Page 220
ISSN 0002-9920 Notices of the American Mathematical Society ABCD springer.com Highlights in Springer’s eBook of the American Mathematical Society Collection February 2010 Volume 57, Number 2 An Invitation to Cauchy-Riemann NEW 4TH NEW NEW EDITION and Sub-Riemannian Geometries 2010. XIX, 294 p. 25 illus. 4th ed. 2010. VIII, 274 p. 250 2010. XII, 475 p. 79 illus., 76 in 2010. XII, 376 p. 8 illus. (Copernicus) Dustjacket illus., 6 in color. Hardcover color. (Undergraduate Texts in (Problem Books in Mathematics) page 208 ISBN 978-1-84882-538-3 ISBN 978-3-642-00855-9 Mathematics) Hardcover Hardcover $27.50 $49.95 ISBN 978-1-4419-1620-4 ISBN 978-0-387-87861-4 $69.95 $69.95 Mathematics of the Gateway Arch page 220 Model Theory and Complex Geometry 2ND page 230 JOURNAL JOURNAL EDITION NEW 2nd ed. 1993. Corr. 3rd printing 2010. XVIII, 326 p. 49 illus. ISSN 1139-1138 (print version) ISSN 0019-5588 (print version) St. Paul Meeting 2010. XVI, 528 p. (Springer Series (Universitext) Softcover ISSN 1988-2807 (electronic Journal No. 13226 in Computational Mathematics, ISBN 978-0-387-09638-4 version) page 315 Volume 8) Softcover $59.95 Journal No. 13163 ISBN 978-3-642-05163-0 Volume 57, Number 2, Pages 201–328, February 2010 $79.95 Albuquerque Meeting page 318 For access check with your librarian Easy Ways to Order for the Americas Write: Springer Order Department, PO Box 2485, Secaucus, NJ 07096-2485, USA Call: (toll free) 1-800-SPRINGER Fax: 1-201-348-4505 Email: [email protected] or for outside the Americas Write: Springer Customer Service Center GmbH, Haberstrasse 7, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany Call: +49 (0) 6221-345-4301 Fax : +49 (0) 6221-345-4229 Email: [email protected] Prices are subject to change without notice. -
Passmore, J. (1967). Logical Positivism. in P. Edwards (Ed.). the Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. 5, 52- 57). New York: Macmillan
Passmore, J. (1967). Logical Positivism. In P. Edwards (Ed.). The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. 5, 52- 57). New York: Macmillan. LOGICAL POSITIVISM is the name given in 1931 by A. E. Blumberg and Herbert Feigl to a set of philosophical ideas put forward by the Vienna circle. Synonymous expressions include "consistent empiricism," "logical empiricism," "scientific empiricism," and "logical neo-positivism." The name logical positivism is often, but misleadingly, used more broadly to include the "analytical" or "ordinary language philosophies developed at Cambridge and Oxford. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The logical positivists thought of themselves as continuing a nineteenth-century Viennese empirical tradition, closely linked with British empiricism and culminating in the antimetaphysical, scientifically oriented teaching of Ernst Mach. In 1907 the mathematician Hans Hahn, the economist Otto Neurath, and the physicist Philipp Frank, all of whom were later to be prominent members of the Vienna circle, came together as an informal group to discuss the philosophy of science. They hoped to give an account of science which would do justice -as, they thought, Mach did not- to the central importance of mathematics, logic, and theoretical physics, without abandoning Mach's general doctrine that science is, fundamentally, the description of experience. As a solution to their problems, they looked to the "new positivism" of Poincare; in attempting to reconcile Mach and Poincare; they anticipated the main themes of logical positivism. In 1922, at the instigation of members of the "Vienna group," Moritz Schlick was invited to Vienna as professor, like Mach before him (1895-1901), in the philosophy of the inductive sciences. Schlick had been trained as a scientist under Max Planck and had won a name for himself as an interpreter of Einstein's theory of relativity.