The evidence of holism
Evidential holism, which is closely associated with the works of W.V.O. Quine, maintains that evidence is only applicable to whole theories. It is endorsed in many disparate debates about analyticity, a priority, mathematical Platonism, and meaning. But in discussions about confirmation theory it receives less sympathetic attention: many philosophers of science regard evidential holism as implausible, poorly motivated and of dubious usefulness. Moreover, many of the philosophical applications of evidential holism lead to highly controversial conclusions. In order to determine how plausible holism is, I distinguish three evidentially holistic theses: holism about prediction,. holism about falsification, and holism about confirmation. I argue that Quine only subscribed to holism about prediction and falsification. I identify a strong source of motivation for following Quine: this is the idea that observation is theory-laden. If we accept that observation is theory-laden, then we have very good reasons for accepting holism about prediction and falsification. In addition, the theory-Iadenness of observation provides us with non-arbitrary grounds for restricting the scope of the holistic claims about prediction
Morrison, Joe
The evidence of holism. Evidential holism, which is closely associated with the works of W.V.O. Quine, maintains that evidence is only applicable to whole theories. It is endorsed in many disparate debates about analyticity, a priority, mathematical Platonism, and meaning. But in discussions about confirmation theory it receives less sympathetic attention: many philosophers of science regard evidential holism as implausible, poorly motivated and of dubious usefulness. Moreover, many of the philosophical applications of evidential holism lead to highly controversial conclusions. In order to determine how plausible holism is, I distinguish three evidentially holistic theses: holism about prediction,. holism about falsification, and holism about confirmation. I argue that Quine only subscribed to holism about prediction and falsification. I identify a strong source of motivation for following Quine: this is the idea that observation is theory-laden. If we accept that observation is theory-laden, then we have very good reasons for accepting holism about prediction and falsification. In addition, the theory-Iadenness of observation provides us with non-arbitrary grounds for restricting the scope of the holistic claims about prediction
evidence evidential closely_associate work quine maintain evidence applicable whole theory endorse many disparate debate analyticity priority mathematical platonism meaning discussion confirmation theory receive less sympathetic attention many_philosopher science regard evidential implausible poorly motivate dubious usefulness moreover many philosophical application evidential lead highly controversial conclusion order_determine plausible distinguish holistic thesis prediction confirmation argue quine subscribe prediction identify strong source motivation follow quine idea observation theory laden accept observation theory laden good_reason accept prediction addition theory observation provide non arbitrary ground restrict scope holistic claim prediction