Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Epistemological reflections on the structuralist philosophy of science

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, E. W.: 1955,Axiomatic Foundations of Rigid Body Mechanics, unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Stanford Univ.

  • Adams, E. W.: 1959, ‘The foundations of rigid body mechanics and the derivation of its laws from those of particle mechanics’, in L. Henkinet al. (1959), pp. 250–265.

  • Balzer, W.: 1978a,Empirische Geometrie und Raum-Zeit-Theorie in mengentheoretischer Darstellung, Scriptor Verlag, Kronberg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W.: 1978b, ‘Die epistemologische Rolle des zweiten Newtonschen Axioms’,Philosophia Naturalis 17, 131–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W.: 1978c, ‘A logical reconstruction of Pure Exchange Economics’, Typoscript, München.

  • Balzer, W.: 1979a, ‘Ursprung und Rolle von Invarianzen in der Klassischen Kinematik’, in W. Diederich (1979), pp. 115–148.

  • Balzer, W.: 1979b, ‘On the status of arithmetic’,Erkenntnis 14, 57–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W.: 1979c, ‘Incommensurability and reduction’, in I. Niiniluoto and R. Tuomela (1979), pp. 313–335.

  • Balzer, W.: 1980, ‘Mathematical structures as representations of intellectual structures’,Dialectica 34, 247–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W.: 1981, ‘Über Quines Beobachtungssätze’,Kant-Studien 72, 336–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W. and Moulines, C. U.: 1980, ‘On theoreticity’,Synthese 44, 467–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W. and Moulines, C. U.: 1981, ‘Die Grundstruktur der klassischen Partikelmechanik und ihre Spezialisierungen’,Z. Naturforsch. 36a, 600–608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W. and Sneed, J. D.: 1977, ‘Generalized net structures of empirical theories. I’,Studia Logica 36, 195–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W. and Sneed J. D.: 1978, ‘Generalized net structures of empirical theories. II’,Studia Logica 37, 167–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogdan, R. J. (ed.): 1979,Patrick Suppes, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnap, R.: 1956, ‘The methodological character of theoretical concepts’, in H. Feigl and M. Scriven (1956), pp. 38–76.

  • Carnap, R.: 1969,Einführung in die Philosophie der Naturwissenschaft, Nymphenburger Verlagsbuchhandlung, München.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, H. and Hoffmann, W. F. (eds.): 1964,Gravitation and Relativity, W. A. Benjamin, New York/Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diederich, W.: 1974, ‘Struktur und Dynamik wissenschaftlicher Theorien’,Philosophische Rundschau 21, 209–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diederich, W. (ed.): 1979,Zur Begründung physikalischer Geo- und Chronometrien, Schriftenreihe des Universitätsschwerpunkts ‘Mathematisierung der Einzelwissenschaften’, Bielefeld.

  • Diederich, W.: 1981,Strukturalistische Rekonstruktionen, Vieweg, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Diederich, W.: 1982, ‘Stegmüller on the structuralist approach in the philosophy of science’, to appear inErkenntnis.

  • Diederich, W., and Fulda, H. F.: 1974, ‘Sneed'sche Strukturen in Marx’ “Kapital”’,Neue Hefte für Philosophie 13, 47–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feigl, H. and Scriven, M. (eds.): 1956,Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science I, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feyerabend, P. K.: 1970a, ‘Against method: Outline of an anarchistic theory of knowledge’, in M. Radner and S. Winokur (1970), pp. 17–130.

  • Feyerabend, P. K.: 1970b, ‘Consolations for the specialist’, in I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave (1970), pp. 197–230.

  • Feyerabend, P. K.: 1977, ‘Changing patterns of reconstruction’,British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 28, 351–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbins, P.: 1976, ‘Use-value and exchange-value’,Theory and Decision 7, 171–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Göttner, H. and Jacobs, J.: 1978,Der logische Aufbau von Literaturtheorien, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München.

    Google Scholar 

  • Händler, E. W.: 1979,Logische Struktur und Referenz von mathematischen ökonomischen Theorien, Dissertation, München.

  • Händler, E. W.: 1980a, ‘The logical structure of modern neoclassical static microeconomic equilibrium theory’,Erkenntnis 15, 33–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Händler, E. W.: 1980b, ‘The role of utility and of statistical concepts in empirical economic theories’,Erkenntnis 15, 129–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. H.: 1979, ‘A semantical alternative to the Sneed-Stegmüller-Kuhn conception of scientific theories’, in I. Niiniluoto and R. Tuomela (1979), pp. 184–204.

  • Henkin, L., Suppes, P., and Tarski, A. (eds.): 1959,The Axiomatic Method, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hucklenbroich, P.: 1978,Theorie des Erkenntnisfortschritts, Anton Hain, Meisenheim.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamlah, A.: 1976, ‘An improved definition of ‘theoretical in a given theory’’,Erkenntnis 10, 349–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kripke, S. A.: 1981,Name and Notwendigkeit, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. S.: 1976, ‘Theory-change as structure-change: Comments on the Sneed formalism’,Erkenntnis 10, 179–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakatos, I.: 1968, ‘Criticism and the methodology of scientific research programmes’,Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 69, 149–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakatos, I.: 1970, ‘Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes’, in I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave (1970), pp. 91–195.

  • Lakatos, I. and Musgrave, A. (eds.): 1970,Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marzke, R. F. and Wheeler, J. A.: 1964, ‘Gravitation as geometry — I: The geometry of space-time and the geometrodynamical standard meter’, in H. Chiu and W. F. Hoffmann (1964), pp. 40–64.

  • Mayr, D.: 1976, ‘Investigations of the concept of reduction I’,Erkenntnis 10, 275–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, D.: 1981, ‘Investigations of the concept of reduction II’,Erkenntnis 16, 109–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinsey, J. C. C., Sugar, A. C., and Suppes, P.: 1953, ‘Axiomatic foundations of classical particle mechanics’,Journal of Rational Mechanics and Analysis 2, 253–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moulines, C. U.: 1975a, ‘A logical reconstruction of simple equilibrium thermodynamics’,Erkenntnis 9, 101–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moulines, C. U.: 1975b,Zur logischen Rekonstruktion der Thermodynamik, Dissertation, Universität München.

  • Moulines, C. U.: 1976, ‘Approximate application of empirical theories: A general explication’,Erkenntnis 10, 201–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moulines, C. U.: 1979, ‘Theory-nets and the evolution of theories: The example of Newtonian mechanics’,Synthese 41, 417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moulines, C. U.: 1980, ‘Intertheoretic approximation: The Kepler-Newton case’,Synthese 45, 387–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moulines, C. U. and Sneed, J. D.: 1979, ‘Suppes' philosophy of physics’, in Bogdan, R. J. (ed.)Patrick Suppes, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland. (1979), pp. 59–91.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, U. and Pilatus, S.: 1982, ‘On Hodgkin and Huxley's theory of excitable membranes’,Metamedicine 3, (this issue).

  • Niiniluoto, I. and Tuomela, R. (eds.): 1979,The Logic and Epistemology of Scientific Change, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, D.: 1981a, ‘Is there any theoretical justification for a nonstatement view of theories?’,Synthese 46, 1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, D.: 1981b, ‘Comments on a criterion of theoreticity’,Synthese 48, 77–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K. R.:41971,Logik der Forschung, J. C. B. Mohr, Tübingen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Przelecki, M.: 1974, ‘A set theoretic versus a model theoretic approach to the logical structure of physical theories’,Studia Logica 33, 91–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radner, M. and Winokur, S. (eds.): 1970,Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science 4, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis/Minn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rantala, V.: 1978, ‘The old and the new logic of metascience’,Synthese 39, 233–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rantala, V.: 1980, ‘On the logical basis of the structuralist philosophy of science’,Erkenntnis 15, 269–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadegh-zadeh, K.: 1982, ‘Perception, illusion, and hallucination’,Metamedicine 3, (this issue).

  • Schäfer, L.: 1977, ‘Theorien-dynamische Nachlieferungen’,Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung 31, 19–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheibe, E.: 1979, ‘On the structure of physical theories’, in I. Niiniluoto and R. Tuomela (1979), pp. 205–224.

  • Scheibe, E.: 1982, ‘A comparison of two recent views on theories’,Metamedicine 3, (this issue).

  • Sneed, J. D.: 1971,21979,The Logical Structure of Mathematical Physics, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sneed, J. D.: 1980, ‘Theoriendynamik’, in J. Speck (1980), pp. 646–653.

  • Speck, J. (ed.): 1980,Handbuch wissenschaftstheoretischer Begriffe, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stegmüller, W.: 1970,Theorie und Erfahrung, erster Halbband, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stegmüller, W.: 1973,Theorie und Erfahrung, zweiter Halbband, Theorienstrukturen und Theoriendynamik, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stegmüller, W.: 1976,The Structure and Dynamics of Theories, Springer-Verlag, New York, Heidelberg, Berlin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stegmüller, W.: 1979a,The Structuralist View of Theories, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stegmüller, W.:61979b,Hauptströmungen der Gegenwartsphilosophie II, Kröner, Stuttgart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stegmüller, W.: 1980,Neue Wege der Wissenschaftsphilosophie, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Suppes, P.: 1957,Introduction to Logic, Van Nostrand, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suppes, P.: 1970,Set-Theoretical Structures in Science, Mimeogr., Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuomela, R.: 1978, ‘On the structuralist approach to the dynamics of theories’,Synthese 39, 211–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuomela, R.: 1979, ‘Scientific change and approximation’, in I. Niiniluoto and R. Tuomela (1979), pp. 265–297.

  • Werth, R.: 1977,Theoretische Begriffe der physiologischen Psychologie, Peter Lang, Frankfurt, Bern, Las Vegas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westmeyer, H.,et al.: 1982, ‘A theory of behavior interaction in dyads: A structuralist account’,Metamedicine 3, (this issue).

  • Wheeler, J. A.: 1964, ‘Gravitation as geometry — II’, in H. Chiu and W. F. Hoffmann (1964), pp. 65–89.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Theorie und Geschichte der Medizin, D-4400, Münster

    Peter Hucklenbroich

Authors
  1. Peter Hucklenbroich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

I am deeply indebted to my colleague Kazem Sadegh-zadeh for many valuable hints and stimulating discussions regarding the subject of this review. Furthermore, I wish to thank Dr. Wolfgang Balzer and Dr. Werner Diederich who allowed me to use their hitherto unpublished papers on structuralism.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hucklenbroich, P. Epistemological reflections on the structuralist philosophy of science. Metamedicine 3, 279–296 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00882210

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00882210

Keywords

Search

Navigation