The Study Of Theoretical Virtues In Philosophy Of Science

In the late 20th century,the development of post-positivism represented by historicism reflects the decline of logical positivism.Facing with the rival theory supported by the same empirical evidence,there is a dilemma that empirical evidence cannot fully determine the theory choice.In terms of the dilemma,Pierre Duhem once pointed out that the confirmation of the theory is holistic.In the study of theoretical physics,the realization and interpretation of experiments depends on a collection of theoretical propositions,rather than the test of the isolated experience.By citing the relevant research results of physics,he provides a "virtue-theoretic" solution to explain the underdetermination problem of theory choice:In the face of two or more rival theories supported by the same empirical evidence,Scientists should use intellectual virtues(such as reflective ability,memory,etc.)to judge the characteristics of the theory and make the theory choice based on these characteristics.It should be noted that the "virtue-theoretic" solution shows two different levels of connotation:First,from the perspective of cognitive objects(scientific theory),it emphasizes that scientific theory per se has the properties that shows it is truth-conducive or worthy accepting.Second,from the perspective of the agent(scientists' application of theoretical characteristics),it emphasizes that scientists themselves have good intellectual virtues that is helpful in judging theory choices.These two connotations also guide two different research paths for epistemic virtue:the former focuses on the need for the interpretation of scientific theories or outcomes,and belongs to the research category of "theoretical virtues",it emphasizes the role of theoretical virtues such as empirical accuracy and theoretical consistency in the judgment of scientific theories.The latter focuses on the scientific evidence which gives support to the epistemic virtue,which belongs to the research category of virtue epistemology,it emphasizes the cognitive function of the agent,and uses the latest research results of evolutionary theory and cognitive science to justify the epistemic virtue.This paper follows an cognitive approach to discuss the theoretical virtues,which gives an account of how epistemic virtues interpret scientific theories or outcomes.The difference with the previous researches is that the author not only starts from Aristotle's ethics,i.e.gives virtue the position of the ontological concept,but also uses the analytical method of virtue epistemology to reinterpret the two theoretical virtues which are the most important in the philosophy of science:empirical accuracy and the theoretical consistency.The empirical accuracy is not an isolated theoretical virtue category,which needs the complementation of causal adequacy and explanatory depth;Furthermore,in order to clarify the standard of theoretical consistency,this paper attempts to use "coherence" to reinterpret the consensus of theory,and proposes a new definition of coherence:non-adhocness is the internal requirement of this coherent definition.In the end,the paper discusses and summarizes the relationship between the two theoretical virtues based on the reinterpretation of the empirical accuracy and theoretical consistency.It can be said that the reinterpretation of them takes into account the different aspects on the epistermic virtue which includes the perspective of"cognitive objects" and "agent" in the "virtue-theoretic" scheme.This way of discussion not only provides a reasonable explanation for the theory choice in science,but also provides strong support for the confirmation of knowledge in the general sense.