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14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 3. Experiment

[deliberate isolation of one cause or effect]

15 ideas
Science moves up and down between inventions of causes, and experiments [Bacon]
Nature is revealed when we put it under pressure rather than observe it [Bacon]
Only experiments can settle disagreements between rival explanations [Descartes]
Science is common sense, with a sophisticated method [Quine]
Reports of experiments eliminate the experimenter, and present results as the behaviour of nature [Harré]
An experiment is a test, or an adventure, or a diagnosis, or a dissection [Hacking, by PG]
An experiment is a deliberate version of what informal thinking does all the time [Fodor]
We can deliberately cause ourselves to have true thoughts - hence the value of experiments [Fodor]
Interrogation and experiment submit us to having beliefs caused [Fodor]
Participation in an experiment requires agreement about what the outcome will mean [Fodor]
Not all sciences are experimental; astronomy relies on careful observation [Okasha]
Randomised Control Trials have a treatment and a control group, chosen at random [Okasha]
Maybe an experiment unmasks an essential disposition, and reveals its regularities [Corry]
Experiments don't just observe; they look to see what interventions change the natural order [Boulter]
The 'experimenter's regress' says success needs reliability, which is only tested by success [Reiss/Sprenger]