> On Dec 12, 2016, at 10:38 AM, John F Sowa <s...@bestweb.net> wrote: > >> [String theoy] gets at some key issues in philosophy of science >> regarding what is or isn’t a legitimate theory and why. > > That's true, but the word 'legitimate' sounds like an attempt > to "block the way of inquiry". >
It certainly can be. Going back to the old Fixation of Belief the way some scientists use “legitimate” certainly fits into what Peirce decries. Typically what is “legitimate” or not is simply whether it goes against some community’s deeply held theory. However I think in general the concern about legitimate is theories that intrinsically set up inquiry. I don’t like the term “legitimate” precisely because it’s ambiguous. However I think good theories are theories that allow us to inquire about their truthfulness by making somewhat testable predictions.
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