Re: [OPE] epistemological and scientific questions

 Dave Z:
=======
I am not suggesting a "theory of models", rather I'm using the word
'model' (as in a toy-model) as an analogy for what a scientific theory
is. Models are never 'true' or 'false' but 'more' or 'less accurate';
they can improve and we can rank some models as better than others
according to some criteria.

Dogan
======
In this loose sense I may accept model as a scientific means. Analogy of what to what? Scietific theories have to do with what is true or not. You seem to have however a relativist theory of knowledge. If fact you accept in a limited sense when you say some models may be ranked "better than others". For to rank some as better than others is a statement on what is true.

 
Dave Z
======
 historical materialism can be thought
of as a framework (or at its finest moments, a 'research program' in the
style of Lakatos) to generate testable theories, i.e. models that
predict observations.

Dogan
=====
I am still not sure what you mean by this. Dou you mean by "predict observations" that scientific theories have merely to do with what things moy become in future? If this is true, what abou the past and present: what was, what is and what might be?

Dave Z
======
The analogy of a 'mirror' is very
misleading, especially if one considers the evolution of science.

Dogan
=====
May I ask you to say bit more on this. Which developments in science suggest that have to give up mirror theory?

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Zachariah <davez@kth.se>
To: Outline on Political Economy mailing list <ope@lists.csuchico.edu>
Sent: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:22
Subject: Re: [OPE] epistemological and scientific questions

on 2008-12-11 18:48 dogangoecmen@aol.com wrote:?

> To put it into a question whom do you rely on in your theory of scince
> I have still to clarify many questions in detail concerning the theory
> of models. But I am not very fond of models. I prefer rather to use
> the concept of mirror. Mirror theory reflects social
> structures,relations and their tendencies by generalising and putting
> them into categories. ?

Other than being a 'realist', I can't really say that I rely on a
particular theory of science. My views are mainly derived from a general
interest in the evolution of science and of physics in particular.
However, I suppose they are close to those of Lakatos and Bhaskar.?
?

I am not suggesting a "theory of models", rather I'm using the word
'model' (as in a toy-model) as an analogy for what a scientific theory
is. Models are never 'true' or 'false' but 'more' or 'less accurate';
they can improve and we can rank some models as better than others
according to some criteria. (A very good summary by Jennings, who is a
physicist I believe, is attached.) The analogy of a 'mirror' is very
misleading, especially if one considers the evolution of science.?
?

> I would be interested in what you say: "historical materialism
> provides a general framework for developing such models". Can you say
> a bit more on this??
?

I was being quite simple really: historical materialism can be thought
of as a framework (or at its finest moments, a 'research program' in the
style of Lakatos) to generate testable theories, i.e. models that
predict observations. E.g. in the context of the previous post; theories
about the evolution of the working-class under deindustrialisation;
capital investment under stagnant profits; conditions for structural
crises and the likelihood of their outcomes etc. As time progresses
there is a growing historical record on which these theories can be tested.?
?

//Dave Z?

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Received on Sun Dec 14 06:36:58 2008