THEORIA
Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia
An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science

Coedición:
Euskal Herriko Unibertsitateko Argitalpen Zerbitzua / Servicio Editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco
Centro de Análisis, Lógica e Informática Jurídica (CALIJ)

Volume 30/2, May 2015, pp. 157-310      ISSN 0495-4548 / ISSNe: 2171-679X

Editor: Andoni Ibarra                                Más información / Texto completo

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S . U . M . M . A . R . Y

MONOGRAPHIC SECTION:

What Makes a Good Experiment?

Guest Editors: Allan Franklin and Slobodan Perovic

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UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 161-162          ( www.a360grados.net )
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.14402

Editors’ Introduction
Allan Franklin and Slobodan Perovic

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UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 163-181          ( www.a360grados.net ) 
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.12761

Validating Animal Models
Nina Atanasova

Abstract:  In this paper, I respond to the challenge raised against contemporary experimental neurobiology according to which the field is in a state of crisis because of the multiple experimental protocols employed in different laboratories and strengthening their reliability that presumably preclude the validity of neurobiological knowledge. I provide an alternative account of experimentation in neurobiology which makes sense of its experimental practices. I argue that maintaining a multiplicity of experimental protocols and strengthening their reliability are well justified and they foster rather than preclude the validity of neurobiological knowledge. Thus, their presence indicates thriving rather than crisis of experimental neurobiology.

Keywords:  Animal Models, Calibration, Validity, Reliability, Experimental Neurobiology neurobiology.

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UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 183-205          ( www.a360grados.net )
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.12707

Crucial stem cell experiments? Stem cells, uncertainty, and single-cell experiments
Melinda Fagan

Abstract: I have previously argued that stem cell experiments cannot in principle demonstrate that a single cell is a stem cell ([reference omitted for anonymous review]). Laplane and others dispute this claim, citing experiments that identify stem cells at the single-cell level. This paper rebuts the counterexample, arguing that these alleged ‘crucial stem cell experiments’ do not measure self-renewal for a single cell, do not establish a single cell’s differentiation potential, and, if interpreted as providing results about single cells, fall into epistemic circularity. I then examine the source of the dispute, noting differences in philosophical and experimental perspectives.

Keywords:  experiment, stem cells, models in science, crucial experiments, uncertainty

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UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 207-227          ( www.a360grados.net )
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.12697

Complex Underdetermination and the Units of Clinical Translation
Spencer Phillips Hey

Abstract: What makes a high-quality biomarker experiment? The success of personalized medicine hinges on the answer to this question. Unfortunately, as many commentators have now emphasized, the quality of most biomarker experiments to date has been quite low. Although the technical side of this problem has received considerable attention, the philosophical issues remain largely unexplored. In this paper, I argue that understanding what constitutes a high-quality biomarker experiment requires some fundamental shifts in how we think about the epistemology, ontology, and methodology of clinical translation.

Keywords:  epistemology, ontology, methodology, biomarkers, clinical trials

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UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 229-248          ( www.a360grados.net )
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.12691

Replicability of Experiment
John D. Norton

Abstract: The replicability of experiment is routinely offered as the gold standard of evidence. I argue that it is not supported by a universal principle of replicability in inductive logic. A failure of replication may not impugn a credible experimental result; and a successful replication can fail to vindicate an incredible experimental result. Rather, employing a material approach to inductive inference, the evidential import of successful replication of an experiment is determined by the prevailing background facts. Commonly, these background facts do support successful replication as a good evidential guide and this has fostered the illusion of a deeper, exceptionless principle.

Keywords:  experiment replication repeatable reproducible

Articles         -------------------------------------------------- 

 
UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 251-269          ( www.a360grados.net )
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.11008

Burge on Perception and the Disjunction Problem
Jon Altschul

Abstract: The Disjunction Problem states that teleological theories of perception cannot explain why a subject represents an F when an F causes the perception and not the disjunction F v G, given that the subject has mistaken G’s for F’s in the past. Without a suitable answer, non-veridical representation becomes impossible to explain. Here, I defend Burge’s teleological theory of perception against the Disjunction Problem, arguing that a perceptual state’s representing a disjunctive property is incompatible with perceptual anti-individualism. Because anti-individualism is at the heart of Burge’s theory, I conclude that Burgeans need not be concerned with the Disjunction Problem.

Keywords:  perception, anti-Individualism, teleology, disjunction problem, twin earth

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UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 271-286          ( www.a360grados.net )
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.11957

Normative Characterization in Empirical Explanation
Mark Bauer

Abstract: Normative characterization is a commonplace feature of biological and cognitive explanation. Such language seems to commit the biological and cognitive sciences to the existence of natural norms, but it is also difficult to understand how such normativity fits into a natural world of physical causes and forces. Existing models for how such language can have a legitimate causal-explanatory role in the sciences are, I think, unsatisfactory. I suggest an alternative model in which normativity is mapped onto systems stabilized by counteractive constraints. Such a mapping, I propose, explains normativity’s causal-explanatory role in biological and cognitive inquiry.

Keywords:  natural normativity; biological norms; cognitive norms

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UPV/EHU. Theoria, 2015, Vol. 30/2, pp. 287-300          ( www.a360grados.net )
DOI: 10.1387/theoria.12863

Symbolic versus Modelistic Elements in Scientific Modeling
Chuang Liu

Abstract: In this paper, we argue that symbols (or the symbolic) are conventional vehicles whose chief function is denotation, while models (or the modelistic) are epistemic vehicles, and their chief function is to show what their targets are like in the relevant aspects. Although the same object may serve both functions, the two vehicles are conceptually distinct and most models employ both elements. Together with this point we offer an alternative to the deflationary view on scientific models. In addition, we point out there are non-referring models in which symbols label model components. We show how Goodman’s view on pictures of fictional characters provides a way to understand such models and how it further reveal the distinction between the symbolic and the modelistic representation.

Keywords:  symbol, model, scientific representation, reference, denotation, conventional, epistemic, pragmatic

Book Reviews       -----------------------------

 
David Pérez Chico (coord.) 2013. Perspectivas en la filosofía del lenguaje
Juan B. Bengoetxea, Joana M. Roig