Duhem, Quine and the Duhem-Quine thesis
Mark Coelen – 3492222 – Synopsis week 4
The overarching subject of the articles would be the concept of underdetermination.
Pierre Duhem – Physical Theory and Experiment
Pierre Duhem wrote Physical theory and
Experiment. In section one is titled: The
Experimental Testing of a Theory Does Not Have the Same Logical Simplicity in Physics as in
Physiology. Duhem states that the chemist and the physiologist show their confidence in the physicist, because they both admit the accuracy of the theories justifying the use of apparatus (during experiments) like a thermometer or a manometer, as well as the theories giving meaning to the abstract ideas of temperature or pressure, by means of which the concrete indications of these instruments are translated. The theories and instruments all belong to the domain of physics.
They suppose the physics as infallible. The physicist is obliged to trust his own ideas or ideas of colleagues. From the standpoint of logic the difference is of little importance; for the chemist and the physiologist as well as the physicist, the statement of the result of an experiment implies, in general, an act of faith in a whole group of theories. This sentence can be seen as the introduction of section two: An Experiment in
Physics Can Never Condemn an Isolated Hypothesis but Only a Whole Theoretical Group. Duhem states that when the experiment is in disagreement with his predictions, the only thing you learn is that at least one of the hypotheses constituting this group is unacceptable and ought to be modified. The experiment does not designate which one should be changed. This brings Duhem to section three: A
“Crucial Experiment” Is Impossible in Physics.
Unlike reduction to absurdity employed by geometers, experimental contradiction does not have the power to transform a physical hypothesis into an indisputable truth. The truth of a physical theory is not decided by heads or tails. In section 4
Duhem
The overarching subject of the articles would be the concept of underdetermination.
Pierre Duhem – Physical Theory and Experiment
Pierre Duhem wrote Physical theory and
Experiment. In section one is titled: The
Experimental Testing of a Theory Does Not Have the Same Logical Simplicity in Physics as in
Physiology. Duhem states that the chemist and the physiologist show their confidence in the physicist, because they both admit the accuracy of the theories justifying the use of apparatus (during experiments) like a thermometer or a manometer, as well as the theories giving meaning to the abstract ideas of temperature or pressure, by means of which the concrete indications of these instruments are translated. The theories and instruments all belong to the domain of physics.
They suppose the physics as infallible. The physicist is obliged to trust his own ideas or ideas of colleagues. From the standpoint of logic the difference is of little importance; for the chemist and the physiologist as well as the physicist, the statement of the result of an experiment implies, in general, an act of faith in a whole group of theories. This sentence can be seen as the introduction of section two: An Experiment in
Physics Can Never Condemn an Isolated Hypothesis but Only a Whole Theoretical Group. Duhem states that when the experiment is in disagreement with his predictions, the only thing you learn is that at least one of the hypotheses constituting this group is unacceptable and ought to be modified. The experiment does not designate which one should be changed. This brings Duhem to section three: A
“Crucial Experiment” Is Impossible in Physics.
Unlike reduction to absurdity employed by geometers, experimental contradiction does not have the power to transform a physical hypothesis into an indisputable truth. The truth of a physical theory is not decided by heads or tails. In section 4
Duhem