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Multiple discoveries, inevitability, and scientific realism.
Luca Tambolo1, Gustavo Cevolani2
1Via Casona, 7, 40043, Marzabotto, Italy.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
|September 19, 2021
Summary
Multiple discoveries in science are not inevitable. This study challenges the idea that scientific results are predetermined, questioning the inevitability of multiple discoveries and their interpretation.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Science
- Sociology of Science
Background:
- Multiple discoveries, where independent researchers reach the same conclusion, are common in science.
- This prevalence fuels the 'inevitabilist' view that scientific results are predetermined and unavoidable.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate the 'inevitabilist insight' regarding multiple discoveries.
- To analyze the implications of multiple discoveries for the inevitability versus contingency debate in science.
- To examine how background knowledge influences the interpretation of multiple discoveries.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of the concept of multiple discovery.
- Distinction between different facets of the inevitability argument.
- Philosophical examination of the role of background knowledge in scientific outcomes.
Main Results:
- The profusion of multiple discoveries does not support the inevitability of scientific outcomes.
- The influence of shared background knowledge complicates a realist interpretation of multiple discoveries.
- The inevitability/contingency of science is not settled by the frequency of multiple discoveries.
Conclusions:
- The intuitive notion that multiple discoveries are inevitable should be rejected.
- The interpretation of multiple discoveries requires careful consideration of the role of background knowledge.
- Multiple discoveries do not necessarily imply that science is a predetermined or inevitable process.
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