A new characterization of scientific theories

Jody Azzouni

pp. 2993-3008

in: Otávio Bueno, Peter Vickers (eds), Is science inconsistent?, Synthese 191 (13), 2014.

Abstract

First, I discuss the older “theory-centered” and the more recent semantic conception of scientific theories. I argue that these two perspectives are nothing more than terminological variants of one another. I then offer a new theory-centered view of scientific theories. I argue that this new view captures the insights had by each of these earlier views, that it’s closer to how scientists think about their own theories, and that it better accommodates the phenomenon of inconsistent scientific theories.