Duke University - Philosophy

Testing What, if anything, makes science different from other forms of inquiry? This talk will develop the view that science's exceptional epistemic power comes from its putting great weight on a form of inductive reasoning that I call empirical testing. I will develop a theory of the nature of empirical testing, that is, a theory of what makes empirical testing different from other forms of sound inductive inference. The theory mixes Hempel's account of confirmation with more recent ideas about causal inquiry. I then make some suggestions as to why this especially "empirical" sort of inference gives science certain advantages, and certain disadvantages.