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Scientific progress: Four accounts
Philosophy Compass Pub Date : 2018-06-28 , DOI: 10.1111/phc3.12525
Finnur Dellsén 1
Affiliation  

Scientists are constantly making observations, carrying out experiments, and analyzing empirical data. Meanwhile, scientific theories are routinely being adopted, revised, discarded, and replaced. But when are such changes to the content of science improvements on what came before? This is the question of scientific progress. One answer is that progress occurs when scientific theories ‘get closer to the truth’, i.e. increase their degree of truthlikeness. A second answer is that progress consists in increasing theories’ effectiveness for solving scientific problems. A third answer is that progress occurs when the stock of scientific knowledge accumulates. A fourth and final answer is that scientific progress consists in increasing scientific understanding, i.e. the capacity to correctly explain and reliably predict relevant phenomena. This paper compares and contrasts these four accounts of scientific progress, considers some of the most prominent arguments for and against each account, and briefly explores connections to different forms of scientific realism.

中文翻译:

科学进步:四个方面

科学家们不断观察,进行实验并分析经验数据。同时,科学理论经常被采用,修改,丢弃和替换。但是,什么时候对科学改进的内容进行了如此改变呢?这是科学进步的问题。一个答案是,当科学理论“更接近真理”(即增加其真实性)时,就会出现进步。第二个答案是进步在于提高理论解决科学问题的效率。第三个答案是,科学知识的积累会产生进步。第四个也是最后一个答案是科学进步在于增强科学认识,即正确解释和可靠预测相关现象的能力。
更新日期:2018-06-28
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