| Popis: |
Evidential holism is the view that individual hypotheses do not receive evidential support, only entire theoretical systems do. Evidential particularism is the view that within a theoretical system each hypothesis can and must receive evidential support for the system to be established. Both views are examined, the former as expressed by Whewell, the latter as expressed by Mill. Although each view is different, both adopt an “either/or” attitude toward theory evaluation: either you prove the whole theory, or it remains a speculation. In this chapter, the holist viewpoint is seriously challenged and a form of particularism is defended. However, the “either/or” attitude of both views is rejected in favor of a more nuanced, contextually based method of theory evaluation. |
