Cover
Title page
Editors' introduction
Introduction: Science and pseudoscience
1 Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes
1 Science: reason or religion?
2 Fallibilism versus falsificationism
a Dogmatic (or naturalistic) falsificationism. The empirical basis
b Methodological falsificationism. The 'empirical basis'
c Sophisticated versus naive methodological falsificationism. Progressive and degenerating problemshifts
3 A methodology of scientific research programmes
a Negative heuristic: the 'hard core' of the programme
b Positive heuristic: the construction of the 'protective belt' and the relative autonomy of theoretical science
c Two illustrations: Prout and Bohr
1 Prout: a research programme progressing in an ocean of anomalies
2 Bohr: a research programme progressing on inconsistent foundations
d A new look at crucial experiments: the end of instant rationality
1 The Michelson-Morley experiment
2 The Lummer-Pringsheim experiments
3 Beta-decay versus conservation laws
4 Conclusion. The requirement of continuous growth
4 The Popperian versus the Kuhnian research programme
Appendix: Popper, falsificationism and the 'Duhem-Quine thesis'
2 History of science and its rational reconstructions
Introduction
1 Rival methodologies of science; ration al reconstructions as guides to history
a Inductivism
b Conventionalism
c Methodological falsificationism
d Methodology of scientific research programmes
e Internai and external history
2 Critical comparison of methodologies: history as a test of its rational reconstructions
a Falsificationism as a meta-criterion: history 'falsifies' falsificationism (and any other methodology)
b The methodology of historiographical research programmes. History - to varying degrees - corroborates its rational reconstructions
C Against aprioristic and anti-theoretical approaches to methodology
d Conclusion
3 Popper on demarcation and induction
Introduction
1 Popper on demarcation
a Popper's game of science
b How can one criticize the rules of the scientific game?
c A quasi-Polanyiite 'falsification' of Popper's demarcation criterion
d An amended demarcation criterion
e An amended meta-criterion
2 Negative and positive solutions to the problem of induction: scepticism and fallibilism
a The game of science and the search for truth
b A plea to Popper for a whiff of 'inductivism'
4 (with Elie Zahar) Why did Copernicus's research programme supersede Ptolemy's?
Introduction
1 Empiricist accounts of the 'Copernican Revolution'
2 Simplicism
3 Polyanyiite and Feyerabendian accounts of the Copernican revolution
4 The Copernican revolution in the light of the methodology of scientific research programmes
5 The Copernican revolution in the light of Zahar's new version of the methodology of scientific research programmes
6 A postscript on history of science and its rational reconstructions
5 Newton's effect on scientific standards
1 The justificationist high road to psychologism and mysticism
a Justificationism and its two poles: dogmatism and scepticism
b Psychologistic justificationism
c Justificationist fallibilism
2 Newtonian methodology vers us Newtonian method
a Newton's problem: the clash between standards and acheivements
b Newtonians against metaphysical criticism
c Newton's idea of experimental proof and its credo quid absurdum
d Newtonians and factual criticism
e Newton's double legacy
References
Lakatos bibliography
Indexes