Originally published in 1971. The three contributions collected in this volume deal with different aspects of a single theme—the logical status of scientific theories in their relation to observation. These lectures, authored by different thinkers, treat this theme in connection with some controversies in the philosophy of science. A nonspecialist who reads these lectures should realize that the theme itself is a perennial one with an ancient lineage. It has concerned philosophers from the earliest era of philosophy on down through the centuries. A central philosophical issue at stake in the lectures is the question of whether scientific theories are testable in terms of our observations such that we can know whether some theories are true and others false. Although differing in their emphases, all three contributors seek a more plausible and nonskeptical philosophical account of the status of scientific theories in relation to observation.

ISBN 9042000694 (paperback) NLG 50.00 Main headings: I. Historical perspectives.- II. Formal tools: induction, observation and identifiability.- III. Questions in inquiry: the interrogative model.- IV. Growth of knowledge: explanation and discovery.- V. Jaakko Hintikka: replies.- VI. Abstracts. skills in writing.

''A clear and comprehensive introduction to contemporary philosophy of science.'' -- American Scientist ''The best account of scientific theory now available, one that surely commends itself to every philosopher of science with the slightest interest in metaphysics.'' -- Review of Mathematics ''It should certainly be of interest to those teaching graduate courses in philosophy of science and to scientists wishing to gain a further appreciation of the approach used by philosophers of science.'' -- Science Activities

Testing Scientific Theories was first published in 1984. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. Since much of a scientist's work consists of constructing arguments to show how experiments and observation bear on a particular theory, the methodologies of theory testing and their philosophical underpinnings are of vital concern to philosophers of science. Confirmation of scientific theories is the topic of Clark Glymour's important book Theory and Evidence,published in 1980. His negative thesis is that the two most widely discussed accounts of the methodology of theory testing - hypothetico-deductivism and Bayesianism - are flawed. The issues Glymour raises and his alternative "bootstrapping" method provided the focus for a conference sponsored by the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science and for this book. As editor John Earman says in his preface, the papers presented in Testing Scientific Theories germinate so many new ideas that philosophers of science will reap the harvest for years to come. Topics covered include a discussion of Glymour's bootstrapping theory of confirmation, the Bayesian perspective and the problems of old evidence, evidence and explanation, historical case studies, alternative views on testing theories, and testing particular theories, including psychoanalytic hypotheses and hypotheses about the completeness of the fossil record.

Developing and Delivering Practice-based Evidence promotes a range of methodological approaches to complement traditional evidence-based practice in the field of psychological therapies. Represents the first UK text to offer a coherent and programmatic approach to expand traditional trials methodology in the field of psychological therapies by utilizing evidence gained by practitioners Includes contributions from UK and US scientist-practitioners who are leaders in their field Features content appropriate for practitioners working alone, in groups, and for psychological therapy services

In early November 1976 a workshop on the Philosophy of Wilfrid Sellars was held at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacks burg, Virginia. Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Research Division of the University and organized by Professor Joseph C. Pitt, its aim was to provide a forum in which views of Professor Sellars could be discussed by a group of scholars fully acquainted with this work. Aside from the twelve invited participants, the workshop was attended by interested parties from as far away as Canada. The papers contained in the volume rep resent the results of the discussions held that weekend. With two excep tions the contents are extensively rewritten and revised versions of infor mal talks and presentations. (Rosenberg's paper is here in its original complete version. Rottschaefer was unable to attend. ) This collection is not then the proceedings but the final product derived from work initiated that weekend. The papers reftect both the spirit of the workshop and the work of Professor Sellars in that they represent the fruits of an intense and multi-faceted dialogue. Professor Sellar~' presence and whole hearted participation left us all with more than enough food for thought and a deepened appreciation of both the man and his philosophy. Special thanks are due Thomas Gilmer, Associate Dean of Research for The College of Arts and Sciences and Randal M.

x philosophy when he inaugurated a debate about the principle of methodologi cal individualism, a debate which continues to this day, and which has inspired a literature as great as any in contemporary philosophy. Few collections of material in the general area of philosophy of social science would be considered complete unless they contained at least one of Watkins's many contributions to the discussion of this issue. In 1957 Watkins published the flrst of a series of three papers (1957b, 1958d and 196Oa) in which he tried to codify and rehabilitate metaphysics within the Popperian philosophy, placing it somewhere between the analytic and the empirical. He thus signalled the emergence of an important implica tion of Popper's thought that had not to that point been stressed by Sir Karl himself, and which marked off his followers from the antimetaphysical ideas of the regnant logical positivists. In 1965 years of work in political philosophy and in the history of philosophy in the seventeenth century were brought to fruition in Watkins's widely cited and admired Hobbes's System of Ideas (1965a, second edition 1973d). This book is an important contribution not just to our understanding of Hobbes's political thinking, but, perhaps more importantly, to our understanding of the way in which a system of ideas is constituted and applied. Watkins built on earlier work in developing an account of Hobbes's ideas in which was revealed and clarifled the unity of Hobbes's metaphysical, epistemological and political ideas.

This book contains personal accounts of PhD researchers on doing field research in politically and otherwise difficult environments. The methodological flexibility required in development research is discussed around four themes: cultural difference; methodological style and the scale level; communication and interaction; and political and ethical legitimacy. The volume argues that the choice and deployment of methodology is an ongoing, reflexive process of "boundary work".