Philosophy of Religion Research

Semantic Externalism: A Way of Refuting the Incommensurability Thesis

Editorial

Author

PhD Student of Analytic Philosophy, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The incommensurability thesis, in philosophy of science, says that competing scientific paradigms/theories, although using the same terms, do not talk  about the same matter and so, the scientists who work in competing scientific paradigms or defend competing scientific theories cannot understand each other. This paper aims to examine and criticize the incommensurability thesis. I first try to elucidate the thesis in its historical context. For doing so, I focus on its two main proponents: Thomas Kohn and Paul Fayerabend. Then, I bring out the premises of their argument for the thesis. Finally, I use the theory of semantic externalism to reject a main premise of their argument. To explain the theory of semantic externalism, I focus on its tow most important defenders: Saul Kripke and Hillary Putnam. I believe that “semantic externalism is a way of refuting the incommensurability thesis”.

Keywords

Achinstein, p. (1968), Concepts of Science, Maryland: The John Hopkins Press.
Feyerabend, P. (1958a), "An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience", Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol. 58.
Id. (1958b), “Compelementarity”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol. 32(supplement).
Id. (1961), “Niels Bohr’s Interpretation of  the Quantum Theory” in Current Issues in the Philosophy of Science, H. Feigl and G. Maxwell (ed), New York: Rinehart and Winston.
Id. (1962), "Explanation, Reduction, and Empiricism", in Scientific Explanation, Space, and Time, H. Feigl and G. Maxwell (ed), Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press.
Id. (1963), “How to Be a Good Empiricist: A Plea for Tolerance in Matters Epistemological”, in Philosophy of Science: the Delaware Seminar, B. Buamrin (ed), New York: Interscience Press.
Id. (1965), “Problems of Empiricism”, in Beyond the Edge of Certainty: Essays in Contemporary Science and Philosophy, R., Colondy (ed), Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Centre in Philosophy of Science.
Id. (1970), “Consolations for the Specialist”, in Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, I., Lakatos, and A., Musgrave (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kuhn, T. (1962[1970]), the structure of scientific Revolutions, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Id. (1970), “Postscript_1969”, in the structure of scientific Revolutions, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kripke, S. (1980), Naming and Necessity, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Putnam, H. (1965), “How Not to Talk about Meaning”, in Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 2, Robert S. Cohen and Marx R. Wartofsky (ed), New York: Humanities Press.
Id. (1975), “The Meaning of Meaning”, in Language, Mind, and Knowledge, Keith Gunderson (ed), Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press.
Shapere, D. (1964), “the structure of scientific revolutions”, Philosophical in Review, Vol. 73.
Philosophy of Religion Research
Volume 7, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
May 2009
Pages 91-106