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Building Theories

Heuristics and Hypotheses in Sciences

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Editors:
  1. David Danks

    1. Department of Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA

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  2. Emiliano Ippoliti

    1. Dipartimento di Filosofia, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Describes new findings and models concerning the construction of theories and hypotheses in science
  • Brings together both normative and descriptive perspectives on the question of theory construction
  • Explores novel perspectives on the uses of models, inferences, and heuristic reasoning in theory-building
  • Uses case studies in logic, mathematics, physics, biology, and psychology to develop a set of principles for how theories are constructed and refined

Part of the book series: Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics (SAPERE, volume 41)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
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  2. Understanding Theory Building

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. Building Theories: The Heuristic Way

      • Emiliano Ippoliti
      Pages 3-20

    3. Building Theories: Strategies Not Blueprints

      • Margaret Morrison
      Pages 21-43

    4. Richer Than Reduction

      • David Danks
      Pages 45-61

    5. Theory Building as Problem Solving

      • Carlo Cellucci
      Pages 63-79

  4. New Models of Theory Building

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 167-167
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    2. TTT: A Fast Heuristic to New Theories?

      • Thomas Nickles
      Pages 169-189

    3. Heuristic Logic. A Kernel

      • Emiliano Ippoliti
      Pages 191-211

    4. The Noetic Account of Scientific Progress and the Factivity of Understanding

      • Fabio Sterpetti
      Pages 213-243

    5. Rhythms, Retention and Protention: Philosophical Reflections on Geometrical Schemata for Biological Time

      • Giuseppe Longo, Nicole Perret
      Pages 245-259

    6. How to Build New Hypotheses

      • Lorenzo Magnani
      Pages 261-284
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Keywords

About this book

This book explores new findings on the long-neglected topic of theory construction and discovery, and challenges the orthodox, current division of scientific development into discrete stages: the stage of generation of new hypotheses; the stage of collection of relevant data; the stage of justification of possible theories; and the final stage of selection from among equally confirmed theories. The  chapters, written by leading researchers, offer an interdisciplinary perspective on various aspects of the processes by which theories rationally should, and descriptively are, built. They address issues such as the role of problem-solving and heuristic reasoning in theory-building; how inferences and models shape the pursuit of scientific knowledge; the relation between problem-solving and scientific discovery; the relative values of the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic view of theories in understanding theory construction; and the relation between ampliative inferences, heuristicreasoning, and models as a means for building new theories and knowledge. Through detailed arguments and examinations, the volume collectively challenges the orthodox view’s main tenets by characterizing the ways in which the different “stages” are logically, temporally, and psychologically intertwined. As a group, the chapters provide several attempts to answer long-standing questions about the possibility of a unified conceptual framework for building theories and formulating hypotheses.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA

    David Danks

  • Dipartimento di Filosofia, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Emiliano Ippoliti

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