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The Significance of Scientific Theories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

W. F. G. Swann
W. F. G. Swann*
Affiliation:
Bartol Research Foundation of The Franklin Institute, Swarthmore, Pa.
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Extract

The Abstract, Contrasted with the Intuitional-Causal Approach. There are two states of sophistication in the attitude which men of science have taken towards theories of natural phenomena. In the more abstract state, the purpose has been to seek the most harmonious scheme of coordination of the phenomena without raising the question of underlying causes and without adherence to some, or any, set of preconceived principles regarded primarily as fundamental starting points. In this state, the starting points have been sought in the phenomena themselves.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , July 1940 , pp. 273 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association 1940

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Footnotes

∗

A paper presented at the Fifth International Congress for the Unity of Science held at Harvard University, September 3-9, 1939.