Theory flexibility and inconsistency in science

Vickers, Peter

Abstract

For several decades now philosophers have discussed apparent examples of internally inconsistent scientific theories. However, there is still much controversy over how exactly we should conceive of scientific theories in the first place. Here I argue for a new approach, whereby all of the truly important questions about inconsistency in science can be asked and answered without disagreements about theories and theory-content getting in the way. Three examples commonly described as ‘internally inconsistent theories’ are analysed in the light of this approach. In the process, the question ‘Is the theory inconsistent or not?’ is identified as a bad, or at least unimportant, question.

Citation

Vickers, P. (2014). Theory flexibility and inconsistency in science. Synthese, 191(13), 2891-2906. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-014-0464-8

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jan 16, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 27, 2015
• Journal: Synthese
• Print ISSN: 0039-7857
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-0964
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 191
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 2891-2906
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-014-0464-8
• Keywords: Inconsistency, Scientific theory, Bohr, Kirchhoff, Classical electrodynamics, Eliminativism.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1438605