Friedman׳s Thesis

Abstract

This essay examines Friedman's recent approach to the analysis of physical theories. Friedman argues against Quine that the identification of certain principles as ‘constitutive’ is essential to a satisfactory methodological analysis of physics. I explicate Friedman's characterization of a constitutive principle, and I evaluate his account of the constitutive principles that Newtonian and Einsteinian gravitation presuppose for their formulation. I argue that something close to Friedman's thesis is defensible.

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10.1016/j.shpsb.2015.03.007

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Citations of this work

The epistemology of spacetime.James Read, Niels Linnemann & Neil Dewar - 2022 - Philosophy Compass 17 (4):e12821.
The epistemology of spacetime.Neil Dewar, Niels Linnemann & James Read - 2021 - Philosophy Compass 17 (4):e12821.

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References found in this work

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Thomas Kuhn - 1962 - Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Ian Hacking.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Thomas Samuel Kuhn - 1962 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Otto Neurath.
Two Dogmas of Empiricism.W. Quine - 1951 - [Longmans, Green].
Two Dogmas of Empiricism.Willard V. O. Quine - 1951 - Philosophical Review 60 (1):20–43.
Kant and the exact sciences.Michael Friedman - 1992 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

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