Philosophy

Contemporary debates in philosophy of science

Speaker: Margaret Morrison (University of Toronto)

Title: Building Theories: Strategies not Blueprints

Abstract: Views of theory structure in philosophy of science (semantic and syntactic) have little to say about how theories are actually constructed; instead, the task of the philosopher is typically understood as reconstruction in order to highlight the theory’s essential features. However, if one takes seriously these views about theory structure then it might seem that we should also characterize the practice of building theories in accordance with the guidelines they set out. If we look at examples of some of our most successful theories we see nothing like the practices that conform to our present accounts of theory structure. Instead we have a variety of different approaches, approaches that partly depend on the phenomena we want to account for and the kind of theory we desire. A number of strategies can be identified in physics, two of which are (1) top down using symmetry principles and (2) a bottom up strategy is beginning with different types of models and gradually embedding these in a broad theoretical framework. Finally, in cases where methods and techniques cross disciplines, as in the case of population biology and statistical physics, we can see that theory construction was largely based analogical considerations such as using mathematical methods for treating systems of molecules in order to incorporate populations of genes into the theory of natural selection. Using some of these examples I argue that building theories doesn’t involve a blueprint for what a theory should look like, rather the architecture is developed in a piecemeal way using different strategies that fit the context and phenomena in question.

Contact

The seminars are organised by the philosophy of science research group. For more information or to find out about future events, please contact Alasdair Richmond.

Alasdair Richmond

Philosophy of science research group

 

Nov 09 2017 -

Contemporary debates in philosophy of science

2017-11-09: Margaret Morrison (University of Toronto)

Room 2.13, Old Infirmary (Geography Building), 1 Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP