Is the scientific method a myth? Perspectives from the history and philosophy of science

Authors

  • Elliott Sober University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.0.3883

Keywords:

Darwin, Einstein, evolution, inference, methodology

Abstract

Many philosophers and historians of science deny that there is a single scientific method that applies across all scientific disciplines. Here I distinguish normative from descriptive versions of this thesis. I defend the thesis that there are general normative principles that govern every science.

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Author Biography

Elliott Sober, University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

Professor at the Department of Philosophy. University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).  

References

Darwin, C., 1859. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. John Murray. London. (Facsimile, 1964. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA).

Darwin, C., 1959. The Origin of Species. A Variorum Edition. M. Peckham. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.

Einstein, A., 1933. «On the Method of Theoretical Physics». Herbert Spencer Lecture. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

Hacking, I., 1965. The Logic of Statistical Inference. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Salmon, W., 1984. Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World. Princeton University Press. Princeton.

Sober, E., 2012. Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards? Prometheus Books. Amherst. New York.

Sober, E., 2015. Ockham’s Razors – A User’s Manual. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

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Published

2015-04-16

How to Cite

Sober, E. (2015). Is the scientific method a myth? Perspectives from the history and philosophy of science. Metode Science Studies Journal, (5), 195–199. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.0.3883
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Issue

The light of science (2015)

Section

What is science? A multidisciplinary approach to scientific thought

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