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Full Idea
'Theories' based on bizarre, non-joint-carving classifications are unexplanatory even when true.
Gist of Idea
A theory which doesn't fit nature is unexplanatory, even if it is true
Source
Theodore Sider (Writing the Book of the World [2011], 03.1)
Book Ref
Sider,Theodore: 'Writing the Book of the World' [OUP 2011], p.23
A Reaction
This nicely pinpoints why I take explanation to be central to whole metaphysical enterprise.
Related Idea
Idea 14992 We don't care about plain truth, but truth in joint-carving terms [Sider]
| 21950 | Science must clear away the idols of the mind if they are ever going to find the truth [Bacon] |
| 18971 | Theories are practical tools for progress, not answers to enigmas [James] |
| 5391 | Science aims to find uniformities to which (within the limits of experience) there are no exceptions [Russell] |
| 3856 | Good theories have empirical content, explain a lot, and are not falsified [Popper, by Newton-Smith] |
| 17508 | Science aims at truth, not at 'simplicity' [Putnam] |
| 12669 | Science aims to explain things, not just describe them [Ellis] |
| 15225 | Science investigates the nature and constitution of things or substances [Harré/Madden] |
| 15298 | We prefer the theory which explains and predicts the powers and capacities of particulars [Harré/Madden] |
| 14917 | To accept a scientific theory, we only need to believe that it is empirically adequate [Fraassen] |
| 19007 | A theory need not be true to be good; it should just be true about its physical aspects [Yablo] |
| 7026 | Science is sometimes said to classify powers, neglecting qualities [Heil] |
| 15207 | We want illuminating theories, rather than coherent theories [Le Poidevin] |
| 14988 | A theory which doesn't fit nature is unexplanatory, even if it is true [Sider] |
| 17488 | Empiricist theories are sets of laws, which give explanations and reductions [Glennan] |
| 20736 | Science has to abstract out the subjective attributes of things, focusing on what is objective [Aho] |