Author	Hintikka, Jaakko. author
Title	Inquiry as Inquiry: A Logic of Scientific Discovery [electronic resource] / by Jaakko Hintikka
Imprint	Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer, 1999
Connect to	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9313-7
Descript	XIV, 290 p. online resource

Is a genuine logic of scientific discovery possible? In the essays collected here, Hintikka not only defends an affirmative answer; he also outlines such a logic. It is the logic of questions and answers. Thus inquiry in the sense of knowledge-seeking becomes inquiry in the sense of interrogation. Using this new logic, Hintikka establishes a result that will undoubtedly be considered the fundamental theorem of all epistemology, viz., the virtual identity of optimal strategies of pure discovery with optimal deductive strategies. Questions to Nature, of course, must include observations and experiments. Hintikka shows, in fact, how the logic of experimental inquiry can be understood from the interrogative vantage point. Other important topics examined include induction (in a forgotten sense that has nevertheless played a role in science), explanation, the incommensurability of theories, theory-ladenness of observations, and identifiability

1. โ{128}{156}Is Logic the Key to all Good Reasoning?โ{128}{157} -- 2. โ{128}{156}The Role of Logic in Argumentationโ{128}{157} -- 3. โ{128}{156}Interrogative Logic as a General Theory of Reasoningโ{128}{157} -- 4. โ{128}{156}What Is Abduction? The Fundamental Problem of Contemporary Epistemologyโ{128}{157} -- 5. โ{128}{156}True and False Logics of Scientific Discoveryโ{128}{157} -- 6. โ{128}{156}A Spectrum of Logic of Questioningโ{128}{157} -- 7. โ{128}{156}What Is the Logic of Experimental Inquiry?โ{128}{157} -- 8. โ{128}{156}The Concept of Induction in the Light of the Interrogative Approach to Inquiryโ{128}{157} -- 9. โ{128}{156}Semantics and Pragmatics for Why-Questionsโ{128}{157} -- 10. โ{128}{156}The Varieties of Information and Scientific Explanationโ{128}{157} -- 11. โ{128}{156}On the Incommensurability of Theoriesโ{128}{157} -- 12. โ{128}{156}Theory-Ladenness of Observations as a Test Case of Kuhnโ{128}{153}s Approach to Scientific Inquiryโ{128}{157} -- 13. โ{128}{156}Ramsey Sentences and the Meaning of Quantifiersโ{128}{157} -- 14. โ{128}{156}Towards a General Theory of Identifiabilityโ{128}{157}