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Underdetermination and Theory Succession from the Perspective of String Theory.

This article investigates the implications of string theory for the conception of scientific theory confirmation. The classical understanding of theory confirmation is based on the assumption that scientific theory building is underdetermined by the available empirical data. Several arguments are pr...

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Published in:Philosophy of Science Vol. 73; no. 3; pp. 298 - 323
Main Author: Dawid, Richard
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press Jul2006
Subjects:
String models (Physics)
Theory
Philosophy of science
Particles (Nuclear physics)
Empirical research
Scientific method
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:This article investigates the implications of string theory for the conception of scientific theory confirmation. The classical understanding of theory confirmation is based on the assumption that scientific theory building is underdetermined by the available empirical data. Several arguments are presented, which suggest a devaluation of this 'principle of scientific underdetermination' in the context of string theory. An altered conception of scientific progress emerges that is not based on the notion of theory succession.