Meaning and Interpretation of Theoretical Concepts

Abstract

The empiricist partial interpretation view on interpreting theories has been dominant in the last few decades, so dominant, in fact, that it has been called the received view on the interpretation and meaning of theories. The view is represented in the works of, for instance, Carnap (1937), (1956), and (1966), Hempel (1958), Rozeboom (1960), (1963), and (1970), Nagel (1961), Przelecki (1969), and Stegmüller (1970). However, in recent years it has been heavily attacked by Putnam (1962), Feyerabend (1965), Achinstein (1969), and Hempel (1970), among others.