The growth of theories

comments on the structuralist approach

pp. 111-158

in: Ilkka Niiniluoto, Is science progressive?, Berlin, Springer, 1984

Abstract

The nature and function of scientific theories is perhaps the most central problem within the philosophy of science. To study the basic features of theories and their role in scientific inquiry, a philosopher should be able to construe them as entities which he can handle and investigate. It is therefore no wonder that questions concerning the most appropriate ways of reconstructing scientific theories have a crucial importance in discussions about the proper method which philosophers of science should follow.