
	Where results make sense

Topic: Confirmation holism

Related Topics

Ontological relativity

Two Dogmas of Empiricism

Donald Davidson (philosopher)

Scientific realism

Pierre Duhem

Philosophy of science

Logical positivism

Meaning

Natural semantic metalanguage

Edmund Husserl

Ontology

Metaphysics

Semantics

Pragmatics

Donald Davidson

	Confirmation holism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Confirmation holism, also called the Quine-Duhem thesis (after philosophers Willard Van Orman Quine and Pierre Duhem), is the claim a scientific theory cannot be tested in isolation; a test of one theory always depends on other theories and hypotheses.
		Le Verrier calculated the approximate position of the interfering planet and its existence was confirmed in 1846.
		One upshot of confirmational holism is the underdetermination of theories: if all theories (and the propositions derived from them) of what exists are not sufficiently determined by empirical data (data, sensory-data, evidence); each theory with its interpretation of the evidence is equally justifiable.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Ontological_relativity (856 words)

	Encyclopedia: Holism
		Holism (from holon, a Greek word meaning entity) is the idea that the properties of a system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its components alone.
		Holism (or nonreductionism) is sometimes described as the opposite of reductionism, although proponents of scientific reductionism state that it is better regarded as the opposite of greedy reductionism.
		Holism, especially in its metaphysical varieties, is controversial.
	www.nationmaster.com /encyclopedia/Holism (599 words)

	Confirmation holism (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Confirmational holism is the claim that scientific theories are confirmed or disconfirmed as a whole.
		This idea is problematic for the analytic - synthetic distinctionbecause such a distinction supposes that some facts are true of language alone, but if conceptual scheme is as open to revisionas synthetic content, then there can be no plausible distinction between framework and content, hence no distinction between theanalytic and the synthetic.
		One upshot of confirmational holism is the underdetermination of theories: if all theories (and the propositions derived fromthem) of what exists are not sufficiently determined by empirical data (data, sensory-data, evidence); each theory with itsinterpretation of the evidence is equally justifiable.
	www.therfcc.org /confirmation-holism-25475.html (273 words)

	"Holism, Mental and Semantic" by Ned Block
		Mental (or semantic) holism is the doctrine that the identity of a belief content (or the meaning of a sentence that expresses it) is determined by its place in the web of beliefs or sentences comprising a whole theory or group of theories.
		If we combine this confirmation holism with the Logical Positivist (q.v.) doctrine that the meaning of a sentence is its method of verification or confirmation, that is if we combine the doctrine that meaning is confirmation with the claim that confirmation is holistic, we get semantic holism.
		Another route to holism arises from considerations involving the analytic/synthetic distinction (q.v.), that is, the distinction between claims that are true solely in virtue of meaning and claims that depend also on the way the world is.
	www.nyu.edu /gsas/dept/philo/faculty/block/papers/MentalSemanticHolism.html (4012 words)

	Holism -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Holism (from holon, a (A native or inhabitant of Greece) Greek word meaning entity) is the idea that the properties of a (Instrumentality that combines interrelated interacting artifacts designed to work as a coherent entity) system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its components alone.
		(Click link for more info and facts about Confirmation holism) Confirmation holism in the (Click link for more info and facts about philosophy of science) philosophy of science, on the other hand, simply means that theories should be confirmed or denied as a whole, rather than in parts.
		This means these things cannot be explained by the study of cells, atoms, or subatomic particles alone, just as the (The organs and tissues involved in circulating blood and lymph through the body) circulatory system cannot be explained by reference to blood cells or muscle cells alone.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/h/ho/holism.htm (839 words)

	Michael Esfeld - Research Profile
		The concept of holism is at the centre of far-reaching changes in various areas of philosophy in the second half of this century.
		Holism in epistemology and the philosophy of mind is widespread among analytic philosophers subsequent to the work of the later Wittgenstein and to Quine's "Two Dogmas of Empiricism".
		Holism in epistemology and the philosophy of mind is seen as an alternative to what is known as the Cartesian tradition, which dominated modern thought down to logical empiricism.
	www.uni-konstanz.de /FuF/Philo/Philosophie/Mitarbeiter/Esfeld/HabilProjekt.shtml (1255 words)

	Michael Esfeld - Publications
		Confirmation holism, by contrast, is the thesis that only a whole system of thoughts or a whole theory can be confirmed by experience.
		Methodological holism is the view that systems have to be studied by considering the things that are their parts in the context of the whole.
		Social holism is to be distinguished from trivial claims to the effect that social roles can only be exercised in a community and that social interactions are necessary for the development of thought and rationality in a human being.
	www.uni-konstanz.de /FuF/Philo/Philosophie/Mitarbeiter/Esfeld/publications.shtml (5693 words)

	Holism
		Holism emerged in our discussions frequently, especially when we took a good part of a year to discuss the ideas in The Celestine Prophecy.
		In such cases the broken holism of the child is further shattered by the break in the holism we know as family.
		Conceived from a male and female holism, the new self is a natural dualism out of which emerges the I or ego with emphasis on one side of the dual holism.
	www.counseling-stl.com /holism.htm (8047 words)

	Willard Van Orman Quine - Encyclopedia, History, Geography and Biography
		There are only questions of "better" and "worse." These too are not questions of "accuracy" as that would ordinarily be construed: theories of translation are better or worse as they more or less successfully predict future utterances, and translate according to a more or less simple scheme of rules.
		The central thesis underlying the indeterminacy of translation and other extensions of Quine's work is ontological relativity and the related theory of confirmation holism.
		The premise of confirmation holism is that all theories (and the propositions derived from them) of what exists are not sufficiently determined by empirical data (data, sensory-data, evidence); each theory with its interpretation of the evidence is equally justifiable.
	www.arikah.net /encyclopedia/W.V._Quine (1524 words)

	Science Fair Projects - Hypothetico-deductive method
		Since it appears that virtually any observation can be seen as corroboration of any hypothesis, the choice of which observations the scientists involved should take seriously seems to be open, rather than a matter of the application of a strict method.
		The argument has also been taken as showing that both observations and theories are embedded in our overall understanding (holism), and so that it is not possible to make truly independent observations.
		However, under the theory of confirmation holism it is always possible to save a given hypothesis from falsification.
	www.all-science-fair-projects.com /science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Hypothetico-deductive_method (554 words)

	Confirmation holism -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Confirmation holism -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article
		Thus the framework of a theory (formal conceptual scheme) is just as open to revision as the "content" of the theory.
		Thus, the Greek's (Click link for more info and facts about worldview) worldview of Homeric gods is as credible as the physicists' world of electromagnetic waves.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/c/co/confirmation_holism.htm (245 words)

	confirmation_holism (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		The best known motivation for semantic/mental holism involves Quine's doctrine of confirmation holism, according to which andquot;Our statements about the external world face the tribunal of sense experience...
		In fact, Quine claims in andquot;Two Dogmas of Empiricismandquot; that his anti-reductionism (i.e., his confirmation holism) is really the same thing as his...
		Holism in epistemology and semantics Confirmation holism Holism about justification Semantic holism Rule-following and social holism Holism in methodology Holism in ontology A philosophical...
	confirmation_holism.networklive.org (281 words)

	 KAW99 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Indeed it is between the latter in NRDR and confirmation holism of development of scientific theories where we draw a parallel.
		The mentioned distinction is isomorphic to the distinction in philosophy between confirmation holism and semantic holism.
		In summary, holism is seen in two ways during the knowledge acquisition process: Firstly any use/misuse of any concept may very well trigger updates in other parts of the knowledge base- as discussed in section 3 and 4 of the paper.
	sern.ucalgary.ca /KSI/KAW/KAW99/papers/Beydoun1/index.html (7321 words)

	Confirmation Holism Encyclopedia Article, Definition, History, Biography (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Looking For confirmation holism - Find confirmation holism and more at Lycos Search.
		Find confirmation holism - Your relevant result is a click away!
		Look for confirmation holism - Find confirmation holism at one of the best sites the Internet has to offer!
	www.karr.net /encyclopedia/Confirmation_holism (1024 words)

	SIFA Bologna 98 Marconi (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		The Quinean thesis of the continuity of science and philosophy rests on two grounds: the impossibility of an external standpoint (of "cosmic exile"), and confirmation holism.
		First, as in doing philosophy (like in doing anything else) we are bound to be speaking from within some conceptual scheme or other, we might as well use the best we have, i.e.
		And secondly, as any thesis can be relevant to the confirmation of any other, there is no way scientific propositions could be regarded as irrelevant to philosophical discussion.
	sifa.unige.it /2eve/ab98/marc.htm (342 words)

	The relationship between religion and science
		Since the era of logical positivism, the philosophy of science has shifted away from scientific realism to instrumentalism and confirmation holism.
		While the views of professional philosophers of science have not permeated widely to scientists and the public, these views weigh in significantly on the relationship of science and religion and on worldviews in general.
		In particular, presuming the validity of confirmatin holism, no scientific, religious or any other worldview can be conclusively proven by empirical data since data is sufficiently ambiguous to allow competing sometimes contradictory interpretations.
	www.sciencedaily.com /encyclopedia/the_relationship_between_religion_and_science (1782 words)

	Fodor's Anti-holism: Psychosemantics Ch. 3
		The First Way: From Confirmation Holism to MH (a.k.a.
		confirmation holism - p.
		B1: The First Way: From Confirmation Holism (CH) to MH (p.
	www.arts.uwaterloo.ca /~celiasmi/courses/old_courses/Fall01/Phil600Repn/class4.fodor.holism.jill.html (1947 words)

	Naturalistic Epistemology [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
		First is confirmation holism - the view that only substantial bodies of theory, rather than individual claims, are empirically testable.
		So, Quine's assumption of confirmation holism undermines the possibility of reconstructing theoretical vocabulary in observational terms.
		In fact, Quine claims in "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" that his anti-reductionism (i.e., his confirmation holism) is really the same thing as his rejection of analytic truth and a priori knowledge.
	www.iep.utm.edu /n/nat-epis.htm (4769 words)

	Holism Encyclopedia Article, Definition, History, Biography (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Looking For holism - Find holism and more at Lycos Search.
		Find holism - Your relevant result is a click away!
		A holistic approach to healing recognizes that the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical elements of each person comprise a system, and attempts to treat the whole person, concentrating on the cause of the illness as well as symptoms.
	www.karr.net /search/encyclopedia/Holism (409 words)

	Analyticity & Nondescriptionality
		The idea is that both dogmas require that the truth of statements be divisible into a linguistic portion (the meaning, which states the experiences necessary to confirm or disconfirm the statement) and a factual portion (the confirmatory experiences).
		But this analysis of a single statement in isolation from all others was inconsistent with Quine's holistic view of knowledge and belief -- his confirmation holism; and assertion of the latter constituted Quine's third line of argument against analyticity.
		Indeed, a broadly verificationist view of meaning is necessary to making this argument at all, since only then would we get the necessary conflict between confirmation holism and sentence meaning.
	www.msu.edu /~abbottb/analytic.htm (1745 words)

	Micah Newman : Upsaid Web Journal
		Philosophers have had high hopes for a robust characterization of the analytic, that it might provide an independent basis for the truth of assertions in logic, mathematics, science, or indeed anything else.
		Quine considers all assertions to be not confirmable or infirmable in and of themselves, but only corporately and interdependently in a kind of "web of belief", where all statements are ultimately revisable in light of sense experience.
		The idea has come to be known as "confirmation holism." I think it's clear, though, that for all its self-consistency, Quine's "web of belief" says nothing at all about analyticity except to tacitly legislate it out of existence by fiat.
	www.upsaid.com /micahnewman/index.php?action=viewcom&id=76 (1475 words)

	Chapter 7
		To turn meaning holism into an objection to this form of argument will require a great deal of work, if it can even be done, and will require close discussion of the details.
		The confirmation procedure for each particular identity will assume other identities, as they each assume that the network is in place.
		The confirmation holist objects to the claim that the micro to macro connections in ordinary science rest on anything more than correlations between facts at different conceptual levels.
	www.ai.uga.edu /~ghrosenb/revision/chptr7.htm (4892 words)

	Analytic Philosophy: Lecture Notes: State University of West Georgia - Robert Lane, Ph.D. (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Moderate reductionism implies that a solitary statement, considered by itself and apart from any other statement, can be confirmed or disconfirmed.
		Quine says that individual statements cannot be confirmed or falsified by themselves: “our statements about the external world face the tribunal of sense experience not individually but only as a corporate body.”(203)[4]
		confirmation holism (df.) the view that entire theories, not individual statements, are confirmed (or disconfirmed) as a whole; statements themselves cannot be confirmed or disconfirmed separately.
	www.westga.edu /~rlane/analytic/lecture_epistemology3.html (1511 words)

	The Analytic/Synthetic Distinction
		The view has come to be called “confirmation holism,” and Quine had expressed it more shortly a few years earlier, in his widely read article “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” (1953, ch.
		Quine derived his “confirmation holism” from observations of Pierre Duhem (1914/54), which drew attention to the myriad ways in which theories are supported by evidence, and the fact that an hypothesis is not (dis)confirmed merely by some specific experiment considered in isolation from an immense amount of surrounding theory.
		But this is ruled out by Quine's insistence that scientific theories (with their logic and mathematics) are confirmed “only” as “corporate bodies.” It's not clear what Quine's argument for this “only” is, but his doctrine has been read as standardly including it (see Rey (1998) for discussion).
	plato.stanford.edu /entries/analytic-synthetic (8176 words)

	Holism in Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Physics (Synthese Library): 紀伊國屋書店BookWeb (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-07)
		Holism in Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Physics (Synthese Library): 紀伊國屋書店BookWeb
		Holism in Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Physics (Synthese Library)
		Proposal for a General 1 (320) Conception Requirements for a General Conception of 2 (4) Holism Proposal for a General Conception of Holism Generic Ontological Dependence 6 (5) Properties that make Something a 11 (4) Constituent Part Result: Proposal for a General Conception 15 (2) of Holism Is the Proposed Conception Substantial?
	bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp /htmy/0792370031.html (195 words)

	RG Communicative Understanding - Project 4: Explanatory Coherence
		The holism that is in play here is not just a methodological matter (as is the confirmation holism that is characteristic also of the natural sciences).
		What we have here is a constitutive holism, i.e.: The psychological realm is holistically constituted.
		Such coherence involves not just the relative absence of inconsistency among the attitudes, but also their integration in a stronger and more positive sense, i.e., there sould be relations of implication, of confirmation and explanation between various attitudes.
	www.uni-leipzig.de /~fkv/projekte/p4e.html (1364 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)