Empirical Adequacy and Scientific Discovery

Abstract

This paper aims to show that Bas van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism, such as it is expounded in The Scientific Image, ends up in considerable difficulties in the philosophy of science. The main problem would be the exclusion of mathematics from the conception of science, given its clear absence of empirical adequacy, which is the most important requirement of his formulation. In this sense, it is suggested a more inclusive formulation of scientific theory, aroused from the notion of Da Costa’s (1999) simple structure, considering the notion of scientific discovery in a strict sense, and the validity limit of a theory and the formalism used in a temporal context.

Keywords

• Empirical adequacy
• scientific discovery
• scientific theory