TY  - JOUR
SP  - 23
EP  - 38
ID  - heidok18500
TI  - On the meaning and the epistemological relevance of the notion of a scientific phenomenon
PB  - Springer
UR  - https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/18500/
Y1  - 2011///
VL  - 182
N2  - In this paper I offer an appraisal of James Bogen and James Woodward?s distinction between data and phenomena which pursues two objectives. First, I aim to clarify the notion of a scientific phenomenon. Such a clarification is required because despite its intuitive plausibility it is not exactly clear how Bogen and Woodward?s distinction has to be understood. I reject one common interpretation of the distinction, endorsed for example by James McAllister and Bruce Glymour, which identifies phenomena with patterns in data sets. Furthermore, I point out that other interpretations of Bogen and Woodward?s distinction do not specify the relationship between phenomena and theories in a satisfying manner. In order to avoid this problem I propose a contextual understanding of scientific phenomena according to which phenomena are states of affairs which play specific roles in scientific practice and to which we adopt a special epistemic attitude. Second, I evaluate the epistemological significance of Bogen and Woodward?s distinction with respect to the debate between scientific realists and constructive empiricists. Contrary to what Bogen and Woodward claim, I argue that the distinction does not provide a convincing argument against constructive empiricism.
JF  - Synthese
SN  - 0039-7857
A1  - Apel, Jochen
AV  - public
ER  -