The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory : (With a foreword by Jules Vuillemin) (Princeton Science Library)

Rating:
Summary: Compulsory reading for philosophers of science
Review: "The Aim and Structure" is a very influential book in the history of philosophy of science. Duhem rejects the methodology of crucial experiment and inductivism. He emphasizes that scientific experiments are not observations of raw empirical data, but they are highly dependent on theory (theory-ladenness of observation). But the most famous thesis of this book is epistemological holism; according to W.V.O. Quine it is a "milestone of empiricism". I consider "The Aim and Structure" an excellent introduction to some philosophical problems of science, a compulsory reading for a philosopher of science.