N-rays and the semantic view of scientific progress

Darrell Patrick ROWBOTTOM

doi:10.1016/j.shpsa.2008.03.010

N-rays and the semantic view of scientific progress

Darrell Patrick ROWBOTTOM

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

43 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper challenges a recent argument of Bird’s, which involves imagining that Réné Blondlot’s belief in N-rays was true, in favour of the view that scientific progress should be understood in terms of knowledge rather than truth. By considering several variants of Bird’s thought-experiment, it shows that the semantic account of progress cannot be so easily vanquished. A key possibility is that justification is only instrumental in, and not partly constitutive of, progress.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	277-278
Number of pages	2
Journal	Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A
Volume	39
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2008.03.010
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2008
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Alexander Bird
Goal of inquiry
Scientific progress
Value problem

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10.1016/j.shpsa.2008.03.010

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AB - This paper challenges a recent argument of Bird’s, which involves imagining that Réné Blondlot’s belief in N-rays was true, in favour of the view that scientific progress should be understood in terms of knowledge rather than truth. By considering several variants of Bird’s thought-experiment, it shows that the semantic account of progress cannot be so easily vanquished. A key possibility is that justification is only instrumental in, and not partly constitutive of, progress.

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KW - Goal of inquiry

KW - Scientific progress

KW - Value problem

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N-rays and the semantic view of scientific progress

Abstract

Keywords

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