2006 Philadelphia Annual Meeting (22–25 October 2006)
Paper No. 11-3
Presentation Time: 8:45 AM-9:00 AM

PRINCIPLES OF THEORY CHOICE IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES: GEOLOGY AS A PHILOSOPHICAL CASE STUDY

VANDERBURGH, William L., Philosophy, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount Street--Campus Box 74, Wichita, KS 67260-0074, william.vanderburgh@wichita.edu

Like astronomy and evolutionary biology, geology is a “historical” as opposed to an “experimental” science. This talk discusses the philosophical issue of how to decide between competing theories when the evidence is very sparse and/or ambiguous. The aim is to make general conclusions about the methodological principles of theory choice special to the historical sciences. For example, should uniformitarianism, or its opposite, be assumed in interpreting the data, and what reasons can be given in favor of one or the other? The history of geology is used as a case study for investigating these issues, and parallels to astronomy and biology in the 16th-18th centuries are drawn.

2006 Philadelphia Annual Meeting (22–25 October 2006)
General Information for this Meeting
Session No. 11
From the Scientific Revolution to the Enlightenment: Emergence of Modern Geology and Evolutionary Thought from the 16th–18th Century I
Pennsylvania Convention Center: 204 B
8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Sunday, 22 October 2006

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 38, No. 7, p. 37
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