ENGLISH

Inquiry as Inquiry: A Logic of Scientific Discovery

By Jaakko Hintikka (auth.)

Book information

Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Year
1999
ISBN
978-90-481-5139-4, 978-94-015-9313-7, 0-7923-4091-4, 0-7923-4246-1, 0-7923-4766-8, 0-7923-4780-3
DOI
10.1007/978-94-015-9313-7
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
8 MB (8779360 bytes)
Series
Jaakko Hintikka Selected Papers 5
Edition
1
Pages
290\298
Time added
2013-12-12 02:00:00
Philosophy of Science; History; Logic; Interdiscip

Description

Is a genuine logic of scientific discovery possible? In the essays collected here, Hintikka not only defends an affirmative answer; he also outlines such a logic. It is the logic of questions and answers. Thus inquiry in the sense of knowledge-seeking becomes inquiry in the sense of interrogation. Using this new logic, Hintikka establishes a result that will undoubtedly be considered the fundamental theorem of all epistemology, viz., the virtual identity of optimal strategies of pure discovery with optimal deductive strategies. Questions to Nature, of course, must include observations and experiments. Hintikka shows, in fact, how the logic of experimental inquiry can be understood from the interrogative vantage point. Other important topics examined include induction (in a forgotten sense that has nevertheless played a role in science), explanation, the incommensurability of theories, theory-ladenness of observations, and identifiability.

Similar books