Abstract
In modern science, explanation of events that relies on attributing errors to the object of analysis, implies dogmatism. However, error may be legitimately attributed to the researcher’s methods, observations, and theories. Reflection, or meta-theory, is an exception to this rule. Consequently, error cannot be attributed to the researcher’s theory or methods when they are themselves the issue under analysis. The attributing of error to the object of analysis is an extrapolated ontologization of a category of thought. The category of error, though superseded in modern natural sciences, is still in use in other fields like in political sciences. In the last analysis, there is no difference between fields of research regarding the category of error.
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Balaban, O. (2001). The Use of Error as an Explanatory Category in Politics. In: Hon, G., Rakover, S.S. (eds) Explanation. Synthese Library, vol 302. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9731-9_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9731-9_12
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