The Methodology of “Research Traditions” in Larry Laudan

Year 2008, Issue: 5, 7 - 30, 01.04.2008

Talip Kabadayı

Abstract

The problem of scientific rationality, which is germane to the assertion that science entails irrational, political and propagandistic elements, has been debated by philosophers, social and natural scientists. At this point, Laudan suggests a new rationality of science and he conceives of science as a problemsolving activity rather than a truth-seeking one. Putting forward the concept of “Research Tradition”, Laudan attempts to re-establish the the rationality of theory choice. Thus, he thinks of science working in this conceptual framework, namely, in a research tradition. A research tradition is composed of a number of specific theories as well as lots of metaphysical and conceptual assumptions shared by the men of science in that tradition. The goal of this study is to spell out and to appraise Laudan's view of the methodology of research traditions; that is, his idea of science and his theory of method

Keywords

Science, scientific rationality, truth-seeking, problem-solving, research tradition, theory, metaphysical and conceptual assumptions, methodology

LARRY LAUDAN'DA “ARAŞTIRMA GELENEKLERİ”NİN YÖNTEMBİLGİSİ

Abstract

Bilimsel rasyonalite sorunu düşünürler, sosyal ve doğa bilimciler arasında oldukça tartışılan bir konudur. Bu mesele bilimin zorunlu olarak irrasyonel, politik ve propagandacı unsurlar taşıdığı iddiasıyla da yakından ilgilidir. Laudan bu noktada yeni bir bilim rasyonalitesi önerir ve bilimi “hakikatiarayan” bir etkinlikten ziyade bir “problem-çözme” etkinliği olarak tasarlar. “Araştırma Geleneği” kavramını getiren Laudan kuram seçimindeki rasyonaliteyi yeniden kurma çabasına girer. İşte bilimi de araştırma geleneği dediği bu kavramsal çerçevede iş gören bir alan olarak görür. Araştırma geleneği çok sayıda spesifik kuramlardan ve bu geleneğe dahil olan bilim adamlarının paylaştığı metafizik ve kavramsal kabuller öbeğinden oluşur. Bu çalışma Laudan'ın “araştırma geleneklerinin yöntembilgisi” anlayışını; dolayısıyla onun bilim tasarımı ve yöntem kuramını gözler önüne sererek değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır

Keywords

Bilim, bilimsel rasyonalite, hakikati-arama, problemçözme, araştırma geleneği, kuram, metafizik ve kavramsal kabuller, yöntembilgisi

References

• BRODY, Baruch A. (Ed.). Readings in The Philosophy of Science, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1970.
• BROWN, Harold I. Perception, Theory and Commitment: The New Philosophy of Science, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.
• DILWORTH, C. Scientific Progress, Holland: Dordrecht Reidel Publishing Company, 1981.
• DUHEM, Pierre. The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954.
• DUHEM, Pierre. Essays in the History and Philosophy of Science, (trans. Roger Ariew and Peter Barker), Indianapolis & Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company INC, 1996.
• DUHEM, Pierre. German Science, (trans. John Lyon), La Salle: Open Court, 1991.
• FEYERABEND, Paul. Against Method, London: New Left Books, 1975. GALE, G. Theory of Science. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1979. KABADAYI, Talip. “Kuramdan Bağımsız Gözlem ve Deney Dili Olanaklı mıdır?”, FLSF Dergisi, Sayı-2, Güz, ss. 29-43, 2006.
• KOYRÉ, Alexandre, Metaphysics and Measurement, Gordon and Breach: Science Publishers, 1992.
• KUHN, Thomas S. The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1970.
• KUHN, Thomas S. The Essential Tension, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977.
• KUHN, Thomas S. “Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research?” Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, (Ed. Imre Lakatos ve Alan Musgrave), London: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
• LAKATOS, Imre. “Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes” Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, (Ed. Imre Lakatos and Alan Musgrave), London: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
• LAUDAN, Larry. Progress and Its Problems, Towards a Theory of Scientific Growth, London and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.
• LAUDAN, Larry. Science and Hypothesis, London: D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1981.
• LAUDAN, Larry. Science and Values, The Aims of Science and Their Role in Scientific Debate, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. LAUDAN, Larry. Beyond Positivism and Relativism, Theory, Method and Evidence, Boulder: Westview Press, 1996.
• LOSEE, John. A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• MEYERSON, Émile. Identity & Reality, (trans. Kate Loewenberg, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1930.
• O'HEAR, Anthony. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990.
• POJMAN, Louis P. The Theory of Knowledge, Classic & Contemporary Readings,California: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1993.
• POPPER, Karl. Conjectures and Refutations, New York: Harper& Row, 1963. POPPER, Karl. Objective Knowledge, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1972.
• POPPER, Karl. Unended Quest, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Co., 1976.
• POPPER, Karl. The Logic of Scientific Discovery, New York: Routledge Press, 1992.
• QUINE, W.V.O. The Web of Belief, New York: Random House, Inc., 1970. QUINE, W.V.O. “Two Dogmas of Empricism”, The Theory of Knowledge, (Edit. Louis P. Pojman), Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1993a.
• QUINE, W.V.O. “Epistemology Naturalized”, The Theory of Knowledge, (Edit. Louis P. Pojman), Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1993b.
• SARKAR, Husain. A Theory of Method, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
• SCHEFFLER, Israel. Science and Subjectivity, New York: The Bobbs- Merill Company, 1967.
• STEGMULLER, Wolfgang. The Structure and Dynamics of Theories, New York: Springer Verlag Inc, 1976.
• SUPPE, Frederick (Ed.). The Structure of Scientific Theories, USA: The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 1974.