TOP-DoWN AND BOTTOM-UP INFLUENCES ON OBSERVATION: EVIDENCE FROM COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
نویسنده
چکیده
The hypothesis that theories might influence observation was proposed in the important early work of Hanson (1958) and Kuhn (1962). It has been brought to a new focus by the interchanges between Fodor (1984, 1988) and Churchland (1979, 1988). Fodor has argued that perception is not cognitively penetrable, while Churchland has argued for a strong form of theory-Iadenness. This issue has led to very heated debate in the philosophy of science because many scholars have felt that if observation is theory-laden there can be no neutral observation data, and this leads to epistemological relativism. We wish to criticize two assumptions that have been made in this debate.
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