Corroboration and auxiliary hypotheses : Duhem's thesis revisited

Darrell Patrick ROWBOTTOM

doi:10.1007/s11229-009-9643-4

Corroboration and auxiliary hypotheses : Duhem's thesis revisited

Darrell Patrick ROWBOTTOM

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper argues that Duhem’s thesis does not decisively refute a corroboration-based account of scientific methodology (or ‘falsificationism’), but instead that auxiliary hypotheses are themselves subject to measurements of corroboration which can be used to inform practice. It argues that a corroboration-based account is equal to the popular Bayesian alternative, which has received much more recent attention, in this respect.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	139-149
Number of pages	11
Journal	Synthese
Volume	177
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9643-4
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2010
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

I am grateful to Gunnar Andersson, Peter Baumann, and two anonymous referees for comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Funding

I should also like to thank the British Academy for supporting this research by way of a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.

Keywords

Confirmation
Corroboration
Duhem's thesis
Falsificationism
Popper
Quine-Duhem thesis

Access to Document

10.1007/s11229-009-9643-4

Cite this

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Corroboration and auxiliary hypotheses : Duhem's thesis revisited

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this