A prolegomenon to an interrogative theory of scientific inquiry
pp. 319-345
in: Henry Hi (ed), Questions, Berlin, Springer, 1978Abstract
The attempts at presenting the methodology of science as razor-sharp decision-procedures, which arose with the philosophical union of logic and espistemology, has carved science as scientists know it out of inquiry. Rarely are philosophers concerned with the design of methodological standards for other than the testing of special classes of theories. Even rarer is the philosopher who is willing to look beyond codifications of the intellectual history of scientific successes to the very messy guts of theory construction or scientific communication and dialogue. My argument here is that we need a new program for discussing and analyzing the methodology of science, a program based on an "interrogative theory of scientific inquiry". As an added bonus, I expect that this theory will also provide grounds for the inclusion of significantly broader classes of questions in the scope of science that those circumscribed by the abbreviated playing field of current dogmas.