[科学哲学自学资料]PS3-发现与辩护.pptVIP

第三讲：发现与辩护 5. Empirical Discovery of Plausible Hypotheses 6. Empirical Evaluation I: Indirect Tests and Auxiliary Hypotheses 7. Empirical Evaluation II: Crucial Tests and Ad Hoc Revisions 8. Theoretical Justification: Theories and Their Uses 9. Conventionalism and the Duhem-Quine Thesis 第三讲：发现与辩护 5. Empirical Discovery of Plausible Hypotheses 5.1 Introduction A General belief: the universe is governed by natural laws, which is objective and inviolable, gives order to the world. Examples: the perpetual cycle of the four seasons, the daily routine of the sun crossing the sky, the sequential phases of the moon and so on. Most natural laws are hidden. One of the main tasks of science is to discover these hidden laws of nature, i.e., the discovery of hypothesis. How? Some think it is through luck-Newton under apple tree, or by accident-Archimedes in bath. Philosophers think it is by pure reason, by intuition, or by experience, i.e., observation and experiment. Anyway, they all believe that there are methods of discovery that can be extracted from the practice of the great scientists, can be made explicit, can be systematized, and can be both taught and learned. 第三讲：发现与辩护 5. Empirical Discovery of Plausible Hypotheses 5.1 Introduction Equipped with this method, ordinary people like you and me can make great discoveries, if having average intelligence and diligence. Sounds great!!! In philosophy of science, the study of the methods of discovery is usually called the problem of discovery: (a) How can plausible and fruitful hypotheses be discovered? --Nonsense tautology. (b) Are there any methods to improve the chances of such discoveries? --Better. (c) Are there any mechanical methods that will inevitably lead to such discoveries? --Where we begin. 第三讲：发现与辩护 5. Empirical Discovery of Plausible Hypotheses 5.2 Mechanical Methods A mechanical method consists of a finite sequence of operations each of which is easy to perform. We can say that the operations ar