Lexicon of Arguments

Philosophical and Scientific Issues in Dispute
 
[german]


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Theses I
Theses II

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I 39
Consistency/FeyerabendVsCoherence Theory/Coherence/Feyerabend: the consistency condition, according to which new hypotheses must coincide with accepted theories, is irrational. Diversity of theories is fruitful for science, uniformity paralyzes its critical power. >Theories.

Theory/Physics/Absence of Contradiction/Duhem/Feyerabend: E.g. the theory of Newton contradicts the case law of Galileo and Kepler's laws. For example, statistical thermodynamics contradict 2nd law of thermodynamics. Wave optics, for example, contradict geometrical optics. >Physics.
Important Point: this is a logical inconsistency. It is quite possible that the differences of the predictions are so small that they cannot be determined experimentally!
Moreover, the theories are not inconsistent in themselves.
I 40
Consistency Condition/Feyerabend: the consistency condition is far less generous: it does not eliminate a theory because it contradicts the facts, but because it contradicts a different theory whose confirmed entities it shares. cf. >Coherence.
Thus, the still untested part of this theory is made the criterion. The only difference between this criterion and a more recent theory are age and habit!
A defendant of the consistency condition would say that the only real improvement would be the acquisition of new facts. >Facts.

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