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Explaining Change in Science

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Doing Philosophy of Technology

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 3))

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Abstract

Philosophical theories of scientific change abound and, for the most part, they have one thing in common: they are theories of rational justification for changing scientific theories. That is, they are not about science per se, where science is construed as a social process whose main activity is the generation and testing of ideas about the composition and structure of the material universe. The kinds of theories of scientific change I have in mind are exemplified by the work of Popper (1959), Lakatos (1970), Kuhn (1962), and Laudan (1977).

Appeared in Techné: The Society for Philosophy and Technology Quarterly Journal, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1998. Reprinted by permission of the Editor.

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References

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Correspondence to Joseph C. Pitt .

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Pitt, J.C. (2011). Explaining Change in Science. In: Doing Philosophy of Technology. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0820-4_9

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