Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Doing Without ‘Theory’:  Towards a More Transparent Philosophy of Science
Peter Vickers, Postdoctoral Fellow (CPS), University of Leeds
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning

::: donuts

Abstract: There is some reason to believe that ‘scientific theory’ is a ‘peg’ term: a very general term that is used to refer to a wide range of different phenomena (Needham 1972).  If so, that question so often asked ‘What is a scientific theory?’ is based on a false premise.  As with other ‘peg’ terms, the most effective option may be to eliminate the term from one’s arguments altogether.  I consider the consequences for philosophy of science of such eliminativism vis-à-vis ‘scientific theory’.