| Breaking the ties: epistemic significance, bacilli, and underdetermination. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 17893070 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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One premise of the underdetermination argument is that entailment of evidence is the only epistemic constraint on theory-choice. I argue that methodological rules can be epistemically significant, both with respect to observables and unobservables. Using an example from the history of medicine -- Koch's 1882 discovery of tuberculosis bacteria -- I argue that even anti-realists ought to accept that these rules can break the tie between theories that are allegedly underdetermined. I then distinguish two types of underdetermination and argue that anti-realists, in order to maintain the underdetermination argument, need to do more than show that theories are empirically equivalent: they need to show that a certain kind of underdetermination obtains. |
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Authors:
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Dana Tulodziecki |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Historical Article; Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Studies in history and philosophy of biological and biomedical sciences Volume: 38 ISSN: 1369-8486 ISO Abbreviation: Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci Publication Date: 2007 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2007-09-25 Completed Date: 2008-01-25 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9810965 Medline TA: Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 627-41 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Columbia University, Department of Philosophy, New York, NY 10027, USA. dt193@columbia.edu |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Biomedical Research Communicable Diseases History, 19th Century Humans Knowledge* Models, Theoretical* Mycobacterium* Tuberculosis |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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