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242The language of science: Meaning variance and theory comparisonLanguage Sciences 22 (2): 117-136. 2000.The paper gives an overview of key themes of twentieth century philosophical treatment of the language of science, with special emphasis on the meaning variance of scientific terms and the comparison of alternative theories. These themes are dealt with via discussion of the topics of: (a) the logical positivist principle of verifiability and the problem of the meaning of theoretical terms, (b) the postpositivist thesis of semantic incommensurability, and (c) the scientific realist response to in…Read more
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380Epistemic relativism and the problem of the criterionStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 42 (4): 562-570. 2011.This paper explores the relationship between scepticism and epistemic relativism in the context of recent history and philosophy of science. More specifically, it seeks to show that significant treatments of epistemic relativism by influential figures in the history and philosophy of science draw upon the Pyrrhonian problem of the criterion. The paper begins with a presentation of the problem of the criterion as it occurs in the work of Sextus Empiricus. It is then shown that significant treatme…Read more
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684After Popper, Kuhn and Feyerabend: Recent Issues in Theories of Scientific Method (edited book)Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2000.Some think that issues to do with scientific method are last century's stale debate; Popper was an advocate of methodology, but Kuhn, Feyerabend, and others are alleged to have brought the debate about its status to an end. The papers in this volume show that issues in methodology are still very much alive. Some of the papers reinvestigate issues in the debate over methodology, while others set out new ways in which the debate has developed in the last decade. The book will be of interest to phi…Read more
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548Scientific realism: An elaboration and a defenceTheoria A Journal of Social and Political Theory 98 (98): 35-54. 2001.This paper describes the position of scientific realism and presents the basic lines of argument for the position. Simply put, scientific realism is the view that the aim of science is knowledge of the truth about observable and unobservable aspects of a mind-independent, objective reality. Scientific realism is supported by several distinct lines of argument. It derives from a non-anthropocentric conception of our place in the natural world, and it is grounded in the epistemology and metaphysic…Read more
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93Measurability invariance, continuity and a portfolio representationMeasurement 46 (1): 89-96. 2013.
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83Interview with Paul Hoyningen-HueneMetascience 5 (2): 59-70. 1996.Interview of Paul Hoyningen-Huene conducted by Howard Sankey in 1996 in Tuscany.
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El cambio en el concepto de incommensurabilidad de KuhnCuadernos de Epistemologia 4 11-31. 2010.Spanish translation of 'Kuhn's Changing Concept of Incommensurability'
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297The semantic stance of scientific entity realismPhilosophia 24 (3-4): 405-415. 1995.The paper examines the role played by the notion of truth in the version of scientific realism known as scientific entity realism. Scientific entity realism is the thesis that the unobservable entities postulated by scientific theories are real. As such, it is an ontological thesis about the existence of certain entities. By contrast, scientific realism is often characterised as a thesis primarily involving the truth of theories. Sometimes scientific realism is expressed as the thesis that theor…Read more
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181William J. Devlin and Alisa Bokulich: Kuhn’s structure of scientific revolutions: 50 years on (review)Metascience 25 (1): 65-70. 2015.This is an essay review of W. J. Devlin and A. Bokulich (eds.) Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions 50 years on
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118Translation failure between theoriesStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 22 (2): 223-236. 1991.This paper considers the issue of translation failure between theories from the perspective of a modified causal theory of reference. It is argued that translation failure between theories is in fact a consequence of such a modified causal theory of reference. The paper attempts to show what is right about the incommensurability thesis from the perspective of such a theory of reference. Since relations of co-reference may obtain between theories in the absence of translation, incomparability …Read more
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113Causation and Laws of Nature (edited book)Kluwer Academic Publishers. 1999.This is a collection of articles which represents current research on the metaphysics of causation and laws of nature, mostly by authors working in or active in the Australasian region. The book provides an overview of current work on the theory of causation, including counterfactual, singularist, nomological and causal process approaches. It also covers work on the nature of laws of nature, with special emphasis on the scientific essentialist theory that laws of nature are, at base, the fundame…Read more
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191Scientific Realism And The Inevitability Of ScienceStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 39 (2): 259-264. 2008.This paper examines the question of whether scientific realism is committed to the inevitability of science or is consistent with claims of the contingency of science. In order to address this question, a general characterization of the position of scientific realism is presented. It is then argued that scientific realism has no evident implications with regard to the inevitability of science. A historical case study is presented in which contingency plays a significant role, and the appropriate…Read more
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455Relativism, Particularism and Reflective EquilibriumJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 45 (2): 281-292. 2014.In previous work, I have sought to show that the basic argument for epistemic relativism derives from the problem of the criterion that stems from ancient Pyrrhonian scepticism. Because epistemic relativism depends upon a sceptical strategy, it is possible to respond to relativism on the basis of an anti-sceptical strategy. I argue that the particularist response to scepticism proposed by Roderick Chisholm may be combined with a naturalistic and reliabilist conception of epistemic warrant as the…Read more
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189Why is it rational to believe scientific theories are true?In Colin Cheyne & John Worrall (eds.), Rationality and Reality: Conversations with Alan Musgrave, Springer. pp. 109-132. 2006.Alan Musgrave is one of the foremost contemporary defenders of scientific realism. He is also one of the leading exponents of Karl Popper’s critical rationalist philosophy. In this paper, my main focus will be on Musgrave’s realism. However, I will emphasize epistemological aspects of realism. This will lead me to address aspects of his critical rationalism as well.
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97Maria Cristina Amoretti and Nicla Vassallo: Reason and rationality (review)Metascience 22 (3): 677-679. 2013.This article is a book review of: M. C. Amoretti and N. Vassallo (eds.), Reason and Rationality.
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158Normative naturalism and the challenge of relativism: Laudan versus Worrall on the justification of methodological principlesInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 10 (1). 1996.In a recent exchange, John Worrall and Larry Laudan have debated the merits of the model of rational scientific change proposed by Laudan in his book Science and Values. On the model advocated by Laudan, rational change may take place at the level of scientific theory and methodology, as well as at the level of the epistemic aims of science. Moreover, the rationality of a change which occurs at any one of these three levels may be dependent on considerations at the remaining levels. Yet, in spit…Read more
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
General Philosophy of Science |
Areas of Interest
Scientific Realism |
Metaphysical Realism |
Incommensurability in Science |
PhilPapers Editorships
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