The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory

Duhem, Pierre; Scott, William C.

doi:10.1119/1.1933818

Cited by 530 publications

(303 citation statements)

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“…In the first, Hanson (1958), Kuhn (1970Kuhn ( , 1996 and Feyerabend (1978) have claimed that observation is theory-laden; that is, our observations are ''coloured'' by our background beliefs and assumptions (and therefore can never be, even under the most ideal circumstances or controlled experimental settings, the unmitigated perception of the nature of things). In the second, Duhem (1982) and Quine (1960) have argued that theories are underdetermined by data. In other words, our theory choices are never determined exclusively by ''the evidence''.…”

Section: Post-positivist Philosophy Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

On evidence and evidence-based medicine: Lessons from the philosophy of science

Goldenberg

2006

Social Science & Medicine

325

248

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The evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement is touted as a new paradigm in medical education and practice, a description that carries with it an enthusiasm for science that has not been seen since logical positivism flourished (circa 1920-1950). At the same time, the term ''evidence-based medicine'' has a ring of obviousness to it, as few physicians, one suspects, would claim that they do not attempt to base their clinical decision-making on available evidence. However, the apparent obviousness of EBM can and should be challenged on the grounds of how 'evidence' has been problematised in the philosophy of science. EBM enthusiasm, it follows, ought to be tempered.The post-positivist, feminist, and phenomenological philosophies of science that are examined in this paper contest the seemingly unproblematic nature of evidence that underlies EBM by emphasizing different features of the social nature of science. The appeal to the authority of evidence that characterizes evidence-based practices does not increase objectivity but rather obscures the subjective elements that inescapably enter all forms of human inquiry. The seeming common sense of EBM only occurs because of its assumed removal from the social context of medical practice. In the current age where the institutional power of medicine is suspect, a model that represents biomedicine as politically disinterested or merely scientific should give pause. r

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Section: Post-positivist Philosophy Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

On evidence and evidence-based medicine: Lessons from the philosophy of science

Goldenberg

2006

Social Science & Medicine

325

248

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“…Pierre Duhem (1954) long ago convinced philosophers of science that a scientific hypothesis is never refuted by the evidence. Rather, what is refuted is, even in the simplest cases, the conjunction of the hypothesis with one or more auxiliary hypotheses that concern conditions under which the evidence was produced and observed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bayesian Treatment of Auxiliary Hypotheses

Strevens¹

2001

The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

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“…( Duhem, 1906( Duhem, /1991 […] what is called explaining one law of nature by another, is but substituting one mystery for another, and does nothing to render the general course of nature other than mysterious. (Mill, 1891/2002: 310) Duhem clearly deploys a metaphysical concept of explanation 7 ; Mill equally clearly denies that his explanations have any bearing on the metaphysical issue of what really exists.…”

Section: Second Riddle: Positivism and Metaphysicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Misconceptions of positivism and five unnecessary science theoretic mistakes they bring in their train

Persson

2010

International Journal of Nursing Studies

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Abstract:Background Positivism is sometimes rejected for the wrong reasons. Influential textbooks on nursing research and in other disciplines tend to reinforce the misconceptions underlying these rejections. This is problematic, since it provides students of these disciplines with a poor basis for reflecting on epistemological and methodological perspectives. It is particularly common for positivist views on reality and causation to be obscured. Objectives and designThe first part of this discussion paper identifies and explains the misconceptions about positivism as they appear in two influential textbooks. The second part pinpoints five mistakes these misconceptions easily result in when the researcher adopts an epistemological and methodological standpoint. Keywords: Epistemology; Methodology; Positivism; Ontology; Cause; Reality; Explanation; Metaphysics Two misleading conceptionsThe sixth edition of Essentials of Nursing Research is a trusted resource. It has influenced many nurses and nursing researchers. It promises to provide "the guidance you need to effectively critique every aspect of nursing research" ( Polit and Beck, 2006: 14). It is a good book that covers a great deal. Like many similar books, it opens with a few characteristic and fundamentally misleading passages on positivism. Here is what it says:A fundamental assumption of positivists is that there is a reality out there that can be studied and known. Adherents of the positivist approach assume that nature is basically ordered and regular and that an objective reality exists independent of human observation, awaiting discovery.[…] Within the positivist paradigm much research activity is directed at understanding the underlying causes of natural phenomena. ( Polit and Beck, 2 2006: 14) I shall explain why this characterization of the way positivism relates to causation and claims about reality is confusing, later (Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6). First I want to demonstrate that the mistakes Polit and Beck tempt their readers to commit occur in other textbooks as well. Lincoln and Guba's (1985) book Naturalistic inquiry is the second textbook I want to draw attention to. A number of years after its first appearance this book is still guiding research in several fields-including research involving nurses, targeting nurses or carried out by nurses. (It was referred to by more than 30 articles published in International journal of nursing studies between 2003 and 2009). In this book, rich in quotations from various sources, many different and partly inconsistent conceptions of positivism are referred to. However, among the so--called "axioms" summarizing positivism are the following:There is a single tangible reality 'out there' fragmentable into independent variables and processes, any of which can be studied independently of the others; inquiry can converge onto that reality until, finally, it can be predicted and controlled.[…] Every action can be explained as the result (effect) of a real cause that precedes the effect temporally (or is at least si...

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The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory

Cited by 530 publications

References 0 publications

On evidence and evidence-based medicine: Lessons from the philosophy of science

On evidence and evidence-based medicine: Lessons from the philosophy of science

The Bayesian Treatment of Auxiliary Hypotheses

Misconceptions of positivism and five unnecessary science theoretic mistakes they bring in their train

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