Coherence between Theories
Canadian Journal of Philosophy 35 (2):331-352 (2005)
| Abstract | This paper argues that conceptual factors are as important as empirical factors in theory acceptance. Coherence between a new theory that is assessed for acceptance and the existing (established) theories in the same domain is among such conceptual factors. For example, a new theory about spectroscopy that does not cohere with established theories of spectroscopy is unlikely to be accepted, even if it was supported by empirical considerations. It is argued that a new theory coheres with a group of established theories when it shares important elements with these theories and contains no items that conflict with their central concepts and assumptions. | |||||||||
| Keywords | coherence, intertheoretic coherence, consistency, clusters of theories. | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,653 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesLaurence BonJour (1994). Fumerton on Coherence Theories. Journal of Philosophical Research 19:103-108.
Keith Lehrer (2005). Coherence and the Truth Connection. Erkenntnis 63 (3):413 - 423.
Richard Fumerton (1994). The Incoherence of Coherence Theories. Journal of Philosophical Research 19:89-102.
David Trafimow (2012). The Concept of Unit Coherence and Its Application to Psychology Theories. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 42 (2):131-154.
Thomas Bartelborth (1999). Coherence and Explanations. Erkenntnis 50 (2-3):209-224.
Amalia Amaya (2011). Legal Justification by Optimal Coherence. Ratio Juris 24 (3):304-329.
Barbara Baum Levenbook (1984). The Role of Coherence in Legal Reasoning. Law and Philosophy 3 (3):355 - 374.
Mark Siebel (2005). Against Probabilistic Measures of Coherence. Erkenntnis 63 (3):335 - 360.
Mylan Engel (1991). Inconsistency. Grazer Philosophische Studien 40:113-130.
Eric Margolis (1999). What is Conceptual Glue? Minds and Machines 9 (2):241-255.
Paul Thagard, Chris Eliasmith, Paul Rusnock & Cameron Shelley (2002). Epistemic Coherence. In R. Elio (ed.), Common sense, reasoning, and rationality. Vancouver Studies in Cognitive Science (Vol. 11). Oxford University Press.
Paul Thagard (2012). Coherence: The Price is Right. Southern Journal of Philosophy 50 (1):42-49.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-01-29Total downloads4 ( #178,473 of 548,984 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,327 of 548,984 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
