The key role of underlying theories for scientific explanations. A darwinian case study

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Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology 24 (3):617-632 (2020)
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Abstract

A given explanatory theory T falls into circular reasoning if the only way to determine its explanandum is through the application of T. To find an underlying theory T′ that determines T′s explanandum helps us save T from this accusation of circularity. We follow the structuralist view of theories in presenting and dealing with this issue, by applying it to particular theories. More specifically, we focus on the relationship between the Darwinian theory of common ancestry and the determination of homologies.

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10.5007/1808-1711.2020v24n3p617

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Author Profiles

Ariel Jonathan Roffé
CONICET
Santiago Ginnobili
Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)

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References found in this work

On the origin of species.Charles Darwin - 2008 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Gillian Beer.
Functional analysis.Robert E. Cummins - 1975 - Journal of Philosophy 72 (November):741-64.
Studies in the logic of explanation.Carl Gustav Hempel & Paul Oppenheim - 1948 - Philosophy of Science 15 (2):135-175.
How to define theoretical terms.David Lewis - 1970 - Journal of Philosophy 67 (13):427-446.
Patterns of Discovery.Norwood R. Hanson, A. D. Ritchie & Henryk Mehlberg - 1960 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 10 (40):346-349.

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