Abstract
Why do scientists lose confidence in the fundamental doctrines of their sciences? It is my conviction that they regard them as gravely problematic when compelled to by alternatives which exhibit success or great promise of it, and that they are given up only when there are available alternatives. In this paper I will address the bearing of the emergence of the quantum theory out of the problems of late-19th-century physics for our understanding of how guiding assumptions of a science are called into question in the context of empirical failures. The three ‘Canonical Theses’ that will receive particular attention are (GA2.5), (GA2.7) and (GA3).
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Nicholas, J.M. (1988). Planck’s Quantum Crisis and Shifts in Guiding Assumptions. In: Donovan, A., Laudan, L., Laudan, R. (eds) Scrutinizing Science. Synthese Library, vol 193. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2855-8_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2855-8_15
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