duhem

Also known as Duhem-Quine thesis or confirmation holism. Designed to refute Popper’s naive falsificationism.

There is a problem with disconfirming a falsifiable theory, i.e., a theory cannot be tested in isolation.

It is never just H that predicts e, but rather H + A, or auxiliary statements.

Example: initial conditions, measuring devices and detectors.

# argument

H and A gives e
not e
therefore not (H and A), that is to say
therefore not H or not A

# cases

• Anthrax caused by bacteria but technical limits with microscopes.
• Null results from detecting motion through the ether because no ether.
• Errors in Uranus orbits and discovery of Neptune but not throwing out Newtonian gravitation.
• Errors in Mercury orbits and general relativity but not Vulcan.