Blackwell Reference Online

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p hilosophy of science, epistemology Empiricist philosophy of science has commonly divided the language of science into theoretical language , concerning unobservable entities, properties , and relations , and observation language , concerning items, like sense-impressions , that are claimed to be observable, although “observation” in this sense covers perception, sensation , and even introspection. Observation terms are employed in this observation language to refer to observable items. Each observation term has an explicit and determinate extension and can be displayed in a limited model. According to proponents of this view, observation terms are learned mostly by ostension, with their meaning reinforced by the presence of their objects, with any questions of context or definition irrelevant to understanding them. Observation terms are widely applied to publicly observable bodies as well as to private sensory states. Observation terms can be directly analyzed empirically. In contrast to observation terms, theoretical terms are employed by theoretical language to refer to unobservable or theoretical entities and their features. Philosophers of science disagree whether all theoretical terms can be eliminated from a theory, that is, whether they can be translated into or replaced by observation terms. Some philosophers claim that the distinction between observation ... log in or subscribe to read full text