CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <html> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("https://philpapers.org/rec/OKAEOA","20210624202034","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1624566034"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title> S. Okasha, Experiment, observation and the confirmation of laws - PhilPapers</title> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en"> <meta name="description" content="It is customary to distinguish experimental from purely observational sciences. The former include physics and molecular biology, the latter astronomy and palaeontology. Experiments involve actively intervening in the course of nature, ..."> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/OKAEOA"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20210624202034cs_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/vendor/css/bootstrap.min.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20210624202034cs_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/vendor/css/bootstrap-tour.min.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034cs_/https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v5.1.0/css/all.css" integrity="" crossorigin="anonymous"> <meta property="og:title" content=" S. Okasha, Experiment, observation and the confirmation of laws - PhilPapers"/> <meta property="og:description" content="It is customary to distinguish experimental from purely observational sciences. The former include physics and molecular biology, the latter astronomy and palaeontology. Experiments involve actively intervening in the course of nature, ..."/> <meta property="fb:app_id" content="315507632137867"/> <meta property="og:type" content="website"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/philpeople250.png"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/OKAEOA"/> <meta name="citation_title" content="Experiment, observation and the confirmation of laws"> <meta name="citation_publication_date" content="2011"> <meta name="citation_format_txt" content=" Okasha, S. (2011). Experiment, observation and the confirmation of laws. _Analysis_ 71 (2):222-232. "> <meta name="citation_format_bib" content="@article{Okasha2011-OKAEOA, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, journal = {Analysis}, title = {Experiment, Observation and the Confirmation of Laws}, author = {S. Okasha}, number = {2}, pages = {222--232}, volume = {71}, year = {2011}, doi = {10.1093/analys/anr014} } "> <meta name="citation_doi" content="10.1093/analys/anr014"> <meta name="citation_author" content="S. Okasha"> <meta name="citation_journal_title" content="Analysis"> <meta name="citation_volume" content="71"> <meta name="citation_issue" content="2"> <link rel="icon" type="image/gif" href="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/favicon-ppl.gif"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20210624202034cs_/https://philpapers.org/dynamic-assets/philpapers/style.css">  <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20210624202034js_/https://philpapers.org/dynamic-assets/philpapers/xpapers.38d24c032bc429d73974bc82aee68acd.js"></script> <link rel="image_src" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/logo.jpg"> </head> <script type="text/javascript"> var pageDesc="It is customary to distinguish experimental from purely observational sciences. The former include physics and molecular biology, the latter astronomy and palaeontology. Experiments involve actively intervening in the course of nature, ..."; var BASE_URL="/"; var SERVER=""; </script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034js_/https://widgets.philpapers.org//init.js" async defer></script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20210624202034js_/https://philpapers.org/dynamic-assets/philpapers/yui.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034js_/https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.12.4.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var $j = jQuery.noConflict(); </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034js_/https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/bootstrap-3-typeahead/4.0.2/bootstrap3-typeahead.min.js"></script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034js_/https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.7/js/bootstrap.min.js" integrity="" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <script type="text/javascript">$j(document).ready(prototypeBootstrapCompatibility());</script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034js_/https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/bootstrap-tour/0.12.0/js/bootstrap-tour-standalone.min.js"></script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034js_/https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/typed.js@2.0.11"></script>  <script type="text/javascript">$j(document).ready(ppTour.initialize());</script>  <body class="yui-skin-sam" id="mainBody"> <div id="all" class="ppskin clearfix"> <div id="banner" class="navbar navbar-fixed-top"> <div class="no-padding-md container"> <div id="headlinks"> <span> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://auth.philpapers.org/login?service=https://philpapers.org/cas.pl&gateway=1">Sign in</a> | <a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/login?action=registration">Create an account</a> </span> </span> </div> <div class="philx desktop"> <span class="philxbtn philxbtnsel"><b>PhilPapers</b></span> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpeople.org/"><span class="philxbtn">PhilPeople</span></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philarchive.org/"><span class="philxbtn">PhilArchive</span></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philevents.org/"><span class="philxbtn">PhilEvents</span></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philjobs.org/"><span class="philxbtn">PhilJobs</span></a>  </div> </div> </div> <div id="head" class="navbar navbar-default navbar-fixed-top panel panel-default"> <div class="no-padding-md container"> <div class="navbar-header"> <div id="logo" class="nav-left"> <a class="navbar-brand" title="PhilPapers home" rel="home" style="border:none;padding:0" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/"> <img id="logo" width="50px" height="50px" alt="PhilPapers home" style="padding-bottom:6px" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/philpeople.png"> </a> </div> <button id="menu-dropdown-button" type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed nav-right hidden-xs" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#main-nav" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="main-nav"> <i style="font-size:24px" class="fa fa-bars"></i> </button> <button id="profile-dropdown-button" type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed nav-right hidden-xs" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#profile-dropdown" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="main-nav"> <i class="glyphicon glyphicon-user"></i> </button> <button id="search-dropdown-button" type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed nav-right hidden-xs" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#search-dropdown" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="main-nav"> <i class="glyphicon glyphicon-search"></i> </button> </div> <div class="hidden-xxs visible-xs visible-sm"> <div class="navbar-form navbar-right btn-group"> <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed nav-right" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#main-nav" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="main-nav"> <i class="fa fa-bars"></i> </button> <button id="profile-dropdown-button" type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed nav-right" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#profile-dropdown" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="main-nav"> <i style="font-size:16px" class="glyphicon glyphicon-user"></i> </button> </div> <form class="navbar-form-alt" onsubmit="if ($j(this).find('input').val().length < 3) { alert('You must specify a search query of three or more characters')} else {window.location='/s/'+escape(UTF8.encode($j(this).find('input').val()));} return false;" method="GET" action="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/autosense.pl" onsubmit=""> <div class="input-group topSearch-container"> <input id="topSearch" autocomplete="off" class="topSearch form-control input-lg" type="text" name="searchStr" style="color:black" onfocus="if (this.value == 'search for..') {this.value = '';this.style.color='black'}" value="" placeholder="Search PhilPapers"> <span class="input-group-btn search-help"> <div class="dropdown topSearch-dropdown"> <a href="#" class="topSearch-dropdown-btn dropdown-toggle" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="true" data-toggle="dropdown"><i class="fa fa-sort-desc dropdown-toggle" aria-hidden="true"></i> </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-right"> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/search.html">Syntax</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/advanced.html">Advanced Search</a></li> </ul> </div> </span> </div> </form> </div> <div id="main-nav" class="navbar-collapse collapse"> <div class="navbar-form navbar-right btn-group"> <script type="text/javascript"> $j(document).ready(function() { initializeToggles(); }); </script> <ul class="navbar-nav nav"> <li class="dropdown with-submenu" id="nav-new"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">New</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li class="first-item"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/recent">All new items</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/recent?preset=books">Books</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/recent?preset=journals">Journal articles</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/recent?preset=web">Manuscripts</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="dropdown with-submenu" id="nav-browse"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Topics</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/all">All Categories</a></li> <li class=" dropdown-submenu" id="nav-10"><a href="#nav-10" class="dropdown-toggle submenu-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Metaphysics and Epistemology</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a class="dir" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/metaphysics-and-epistemology">Metaphysics and Epistemology</a></li><li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/epistemology">Epistemology</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/metaphilosophy">Metaphilosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/metaphysics">Metaphysics</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-action">Philosophy of Action</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-language">Philosophy of Language</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-mind">Philosophy of Mind</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-religion">Philosophy of Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/me-misc">M&E;, Misc</a></li> </ul> <li class=" dropdown-submenu" id="nav-24"><a href="#nav-24" class="dropdown-toggle submenu-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Value Theory</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a class="dir" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/value-theory">Value Theory</a></li><li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/aesthetics">Aesthetics</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/applied-ethics">Applied Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/meta-ethics">Meta-Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/normative-ethics">Normative Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-gender-race-and-sexuality">Philosophy of Gender, Race, and Sexuality</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-law">Philosophy of Law</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/social-and-political-philosophy">Social and Political Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/value-theory-miscellaneous">Value Theory, Miscellaneous</a></li> </ul> <li class=" dropdown-submenu" id="nav-36"><a href="#nav-36" class="dropdown-toggle submenu-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Science, Logic, and Mathematics</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a class="dir" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/science-logic-and-mathematics">Science, Logic, and Mathematics</a></li><li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/logic-and-philosophy-of-logic">Logic and Philosophy of Logic</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-biology">Philosophy of Biology</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-cognitive-science">Philosophy of Cognitive Science</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-computing-and-information">Philosophy of Computing and Information</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-mathematics">Philosophy of Mathematics</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-physical-science">Philosophy of Physical Science</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-social-science">Philosophy of Social Science</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-probability">Philosophy of Probability</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/general-philosophy-of-science">General Philosophy of Science</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-science-misc">Philosophy of Science, Misc</a></li> </ul> <li class=" dropdown-submenu" id="nav-51"><a href="#nav-51" class="dropdown-toggle submenu-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">History of Western Philosophy</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a class="dir" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/history-of-western-philosophy">History of Western Philosophy</a></li><li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/ancient-greek-and-roman-philosophy">Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/medieval-and-renaissance-philosophy">Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/17th18th-century-philosophy">17th/18th Century Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/19th-century-philosophy">19th Century Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/20th-century-philosophy">20th Century Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/history-of-western-philosophy-misc">History of Western Philosophy, Misc</a></li> </ul> <li class=" dropdown-submenu" id="nav-58"><a href="#nav-58" class="dropdown-toggle submenu-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Philosophical Traditions</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a class="dir" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophical-traditions">Philosophical Traditions</a></li><li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/africanafricana-philosophy">African/Africana Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/asian-philosophy">Asian Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/continental-philosophy">Continental Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/european-philosophy">European Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-the-americas">Philosophy of the Americas</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophical-traditions-miscellaneous">Philosophical Traditions, Miscellaneous</a></li> </ul> <li class=" dropdown-submenu" id="nav-4"><a href="#nav-4" class="dropdown-toggle submenu-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Philosophy, Misc</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a class="dir" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-misc">Philosophy, Misc</a></li><li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-introductions-and-anthologies">Philosophy, Introductions and Anthologies</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-general-works">Philosophy, General Works</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/teaching-philosophy">Teaching Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-miscellaneous">Philosophy, Miscellaneous</a></li> </ul> <li class=" dropdown-submenu" id="nav-70"><a href="#nav-70" class="dropdown-toggle submenu-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Other Academic Areas</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu"> <li><a class="dir" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/other-academic-areas">Other Academic Areas</a></li><li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/natural-sciences">Natural Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/social-sciences">Social Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/cognitive-sciences">Cognitive Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/formal-sciences">Formal Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/arts-and-humanities">Arts and Humanities</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/professional-areas">Professional Areas</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/other-academic-areas-misc">Other Academic Areas, Misc</a></li> </ul> <li> </li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/journals">Journals</a></li> <li class="dropdown with-submenu hidden-xs" id="nav-profile"> </li> <li class="dropdown with-submenu" id="nav-submit"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Submit material</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/edit">Submit a book or article</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/utils/batch_import.pl">Upload a bibliography</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/pages/list.html">Personal pages we track</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/archives/list.html">Archives we track</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/feeds.html">Information for publishers</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="dropdown with-submenu" id="nav-help"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">More</a> <ul class="dropdown-menu pull-right"> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/whatyoucando.html">Introduction</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/submit.html">Submitting to PhilPapers</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/faq.html">Frequently Asked Questions</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/subscriptions/">Subscriptions</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/editors.html">Editor's Guide</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/categorization.html">The Categorization Project</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/feeds.html">For Publishers</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/archive_admins.html">For Archive Admins</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/contact.html">Contact us</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/surveys/">PhilPapers Surveys</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/api/">API</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/utils/bargains.pl">Bargain Finder</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/about.html">About PhilPapers</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="hidden-xxs hidden-xs hidden-sm"> <form class="navbar-form-alt" onsubmit="if ($j(this).find('input').val().length < 3) { alert('You must specify a search query of three or more characters')} else {window.location='/s/'+escape(UTF8.encode($j(this).find('input').val()));} return false;" method="GET" action="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/autosense.pl" onsubmit=""> <div class="input-group topSearch-container"> <input id="topSearch" autocomplete="off" class="topSearch form-control input-lg" type="text" name="searchStr" style="color:black" onfocus="if (this.value == 'search for..') {this.value = '';this.style.color='black'}" value="" placeholder="Search PhilPapers"> <span class="input-group-btn search-help"> <div class="dropdown topSearch-dropdown"> <a href="#" class="topSearch-dropdown-btn dropdown-toggle" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="true" data-toggle="dropdown"><i class="fa fa-sort-desc dropdown-toggle" aria-hidden="true"></i> </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-right"> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/search.html">Syntax</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/advanced.html">Advanced Search</a></li> </ul> </div> </span> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="hidden-md hidden-lg"> <div id="profile-dropdown" class="navbar-collapse collapse"> <div class="navbar-form navbar-right btn-group"> <ul class="navbar-nav nav"> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/inoff.html">Sign in</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/users/new.html">Create an account</a></li></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="hidden-md hidden-lg"> <div id="search-dropdown" class="navbar-collapse collapse"> <ul class="navbar-nav nav"> <li> <form class="navbar-form-alt" onsubmit="if ($j(this).find('input').val().length < 3) { alert('You must specify a search query of three or more characters')} else {window.location='/s/'+escape(UTF8.encode($j(this).find('input').val()));} return false;" method="GET" action="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/autosense.pl" onsubmit=""> <div class="topSearch-container"> <input id="topSearch" autocomplete="off" class="topSearch form-control input-lg" type="text" name="searchStr" style="color:black" onfocus="if (this.value == 'search for..') {this.value = '';this.style.color='black'}" value="" placeholder="Search PhilPapers"> </div> </form> </li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/search.html">Syntax</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/advanced.html">Advanced Search</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> $j(document).ready(ppTypeahead.initialize(".topSearch")); </script> <div id="contentContainer" class=" container panel panel-default"> <div id="content"> <div class="clearfix" id="rec" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"> <div class="flex"> <h1 class="recTitle" itemprop="name" style="flex-grow: 1"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=&u=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch-information.bristol.ac.uk%2Ffiles%2F8878687%2FExperimentalObservational_Science.pdf">Experiment, observation and the confirmation of laws</a></h1> </div> <div class="rec-main"> <div class="recAuthors"> <a class="discreet" title="View other works by S. Okasha" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/S.%20Okasha"><span class="name" itemprop="author">S. Okasha</span></a> </div> <div class="recPubInfo" style="display:flex;align-items:center"> <div> <em class="pubName"><a class="discreet" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/asearch.pl?pub=53">Analysis</a></em> 71 (2):222-232 (<span itemprop="copyrightYear">2011</span>) <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3A&journal&volume=71&aulast=Okasha&issue=2&atitle=Experiment%2C%20observation%20and%20the%20confirmation%20of%20laws&genre=article&aufirst=S.&date=2011&jtitle=Analysis"></span> </div> </div> <div div class="philstar-components entry-buttons-container"> <div> <like-button token="" source_id="411282" source_type="Philpapers::Publication" login_path="/login"> </like-button> </div> <div> <recommend-button token="" source_id="411282" source_type="Philpapers::Publication" login_path="/login"/> </recommend-button> </div> <bookmark button_classes="is-primary is-outlined" token="" source_id="411282" source_type="Philpapers::Publication" login_path="/login"/> </bookmark> </div> <hr/> <table id="entry" class="responsive"> <tr> <td class="pp-label"> Authors </td> <td class="content"> <div id="profile-list" class="philstar-components"> <div class="profile-tab"> <div class="profile-tab__image"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpeople.org/profiles/samir-okasha"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpeople.org/profiles/photo/6691/small"></img> </a> </div> <div class="profile-tab__content"> <a class="profile-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpeople.org/profiles/samir-okasha"> Samir Okasha </a> <div class="affil"> University of Bristol </div> </div> <div class="profile-tab__follow"> <follow-button token="" :relationship_id="null" :profile_id="6691" login_path="/login"/> </div> </div> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="pp-label"> Abstract </td> <td class="content" id="abstractElement"> <div itemprop="description"> It is customary to distinguish experimental from purely observational sciences. The former include physics and molecular biology, the latter astronomy and palaeontology. Experiments involve actively intervening in the course of nature, as opposed to observing events that would have happened anyway. When a molecular biologist inserts viral DNA into a bacterium in his laboratory, this is an experiment; but when an astronomer points his telescope at the heavens, this is an observation. Without the biologist’s handiwork the bacterium would never have contained foreign DNA; but the planets would have continued orbiting the sun whether or not the astronomer had directed his telescope skyward. The observational/experimental distinction would probably be difficult to make precise 1, as the notion of an ‘intervention’ is not easily defined, but it is intuitively fairly clear, and is frequently invoked by scientists and historians of science. Experimentation, or ‘putting questions to nature’, is often cited as a hallmark of the modern scientific method, something that permitted the enormous advances of the last 350 years. And it is sometimes said that the social sciences lag behind the natural because controlled experiments cannot be done so readily in the former. Moreover in certain sciences, e.g. epidemiology, students are explicitly taught that experimental data is preferable to observational data, particularly for doing causal inference. So the distinction between observational and experimental science has quite wide currency, and is often regarded as methodologically significant. Surprisingly, mainstream philosophy of science has had rather little to say about the observational/experimental distinction. 2 For example, discussions of confirmation usually invoke a notion of ‘evidence’, to be contrasted with ‘theory’ or ‘hypothesis’; the aim is to understand how the evidence bears on the hypothesis. But whether this ‘evidence’ comes from observation or experiment generally plays no role in the discussion; this is true … </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="pp-label"> Keywords </td> <td class="content"> No keywords specified (<span class="ll" onclick="editEntry2("OKAEOA","moreinfo")">fix it</span>) </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="pp-label"> Categories </td> <td class="content" itemprop="keywords" id="record-categories"> <div><a class="catName" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/confirmation" rel="section">Confirmation</a><span class="catIn"> in </span><a class="catArea" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/general-philosophy-of-science" rel="section">General Philosophy of Science</a></div> <div><a class="catName" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/experimentation-in-science" rel="section">Experimentation in Science</a><span class="catIn"> in </span><a class="catArea" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/general-philosophy-of-science" rel="section">General Philosophy of Science</a></div> <div><a class="catName" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/the-observation-theory-distinction" rel="section">The Observation-Theory Distinction</a><span class="catIn"> in </span><a class="catArea" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/general-philosophy-of-science" rel="section">General Philosophy of Science</a></div> (<span class="ll" onclick="editEntry2("OKAEOA","classificationDetails")">categorize this paper</span>) </td> </tr>  <tr> <td class="pp-label"> DOI </td> <td class="content"> <a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1093%2Fanalys%2Fanr014" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">10.1093/analys/anr014</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="pp-label"> Options </td> <td class="content"> <div id="entryOptions" class="row"> <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <div class="entry-option"> <img class="texticon" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/tango-full/16x16/categories/preferences-system.png"> <a title="Edit this entry" class="ll" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/edit/OKAEOA">Edit this record</a> </div> <div class="entry-option"> <img class="texticon" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/tango-full/16x16/actions/edit-copy.png"> <span title="Mark as duplicate" class="ll" onclick="window.location='/utils/duplicate.pl?eId=OKAEOA'">Mark as duplicate</span> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <div class="entry-option"> <div id="la-OKAEOA" title="Export to another format" class="yui-skin-sam ldiv"></div><img class="texticon" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/tango-full/16x16/actions/document-save.png"> <span class="ll" onclick="showExports('OKAEOA')">Export citation<img src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/subind.gif"></span> </div> <div class="entry-option"> <img class="texticon" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/google.png"> <a title="Search on Google Scholar" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://www.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=Experiment%2C%20observation%20and%20the%20confirmation%20of%20laws+author%3AOkasha">Find it on Scholar</a> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <div class="entry-option"> <img class="texticon" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/tango-full/16x16/places/user-trash.png"> <span title="Request deletion from PhilPapers" class="ll" onclick="userDelete("OKAEOA")">Request removal from index</span> </div> <div class="entry-option"> <img class="texticon" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/tango-full/16x16/actions/edit-find-replace.png"> <a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/utils/revisions.pl?eId=OKAEOA" rel="nofollow">Revision history</a> </div> </div> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class=""></td> <td class=""> <div id="msg-OKAEOA"></div> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="flex"> <div> <h2>Download options</h2> <div class="download-options"><div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12 pp-label">PhilArchive copy</div> <div class="col-md-12 entry-tbl-content"> <div style="border:5px solid #ccc;padding:10px">  <script type="text/javascript"> document.write("This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find."); </script>  <br><br> <span class="ll" onclick="editEntry2('OKAEOA','onlineDetails')">Upload a copy of this paper</span>     <span class="ll" onclick="ppAct('checkSherpaRomeo',{journalTitle:'Analysis'}, function(r) { $('editor-pub-policy-page').update('Publisher\'s policy:<br>'+r+'').show() })">Check publisher's policy</span>     Papers currently archived: 60,021 <div style="display:none" id="editor-pub-policy-page"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12 pp-label">External links</div> <div class="col-md-12 entry-tbl-content"> <ul class="externalLinks"> <li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1093%2Fanalys%2Fanr014" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">From the Publisher via CrossRef (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=http%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.oxfordjournals.org%2Fcgi%2Fcontent%2Fshort%2F71%2F2%2F222%3Frss%3D1" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">analysis.oxfordjournals.org (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=http%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.oxfordjournals.org%2Fcontent%2F71%2F2%2F222" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">analysis.oxfordjournals.org [2] (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=http%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.oxfordjournals.org%2Fcontent%2F71%2F2%2F222.short%3Frelated-urls%3Dyes%26legid%3Danalys%3B71%2F2%2F222" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">analysis.oxfordjournals.org [3] (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=http%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.oxfordjournals.org%2Fcontent%2Fearly%2F2011%2F02%2F13%2Fanalys.anr014" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">analysis.oxfordjournals.org [4] (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F41237306" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">jstor.org (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=https%3A%2F%2Facademic.oup.com%2Fanalysis%2Farticle-lookup%2Fdoi%2F10.1093%2Fanalys%2Fanr014" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">academic.oup.com (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch-information.bristol.ac.uk%2Fen%2Fpublications%2Fexperiment-observation-and-the-confirmation-of-laws(79e68032-e432-47de-adb5-e7ca3ff2841d).html" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">research-information.bristol.ac.uk <img src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/unlocked.png"> (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch-information.bristol.ac.uk%2Ffiles%2F8878687%2FExperimentalObservational_Science.pdf" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">research-information.bristol.ac.uk [2] <img src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/unlocked.png"> (no proxy) </a></li><li><a class="outLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=OKAEOA&proxyId=none&u=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch-information.bristol.ac.uk%2Fws%2Ffiles%2F8878687%2FExperimentalObservational_Science.pdf" rel="nofollow" onclick="trackclick("OKAEOA",this.href,0);return true;">research-information.bristol.ac.uk [3] <img src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/icons/unlocked.png"> (no proxy) </a></li> </ul> <br> <em><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/users/new.html">Setup an account with your affiliations</a> in order to access resources via your University's proxy server</em><br> <span class="subtle"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/offcampus.html">Configure custom proxy</a> (use this if your affiliation does not provide a proxy)</span>  </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12 pp-label">Through your library</div> <div class="col-md-12"> <ul class="externalLinks"> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://auth.philpapers.org/login?service=https://philpapers.org/cas.pl&gateway=1">Sign in / register</a> and customize your OpenURL resolver..</li><li><span class="subtle"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/openurl.html">Configure custom resolver</a></span></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <h2>References found in this work <span class="beta">BETA</span></h2>  <div id="OKAEOA-HOWSRT" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/HOWSRT"><span class="pub_name recTitle"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Scientific Reasoning: The Bayesian Approach.</span></span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Peter Urbach" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Peter%20Urbach"><span class="name">Peter Urbach</span></a> & <a class="discreet" title="View other works by Colin Howson" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Colin%20Howson"><span class="name">Colin Howson</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1993</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> Open Court.</span></div><div id="OKAEOA-DUHTAA" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/DUHTAA"><span class="pub_name recTitle"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory.</span></span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Pierre Maurice Marie%20Duhem"><span class="name">Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1954</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> Princeton: Princeton University Press.</span></div><div id="OKAEOA-LEWOTP-7" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/LEWOTP-7"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">On the Plurality of Worlds.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by David Lewis" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/David%20Lewis"><span class="name">David Lewis</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1986</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger</em> 178 (3):388-390.</span></div><div id="OKAEOA-EARBOB" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/EARBOB"><span class="pub_name recTitle"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Bayes or Bust?</span></span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by John Earman" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/John%20Earman"><span class="name">John Earman</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1992</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> Bradford.</span></div><div id="OKAEOA-LEWHSD-2" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/LEWHSD-2"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Humean Supervenience Debugged.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by David Lewis" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/David%20Lewis"><span class="name">David Lewis</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1994</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Mind</em> 103 (412):473--490.</span></div><p><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/references/OKAEOA">View all 30 references / Add more references</a> <h2>Citations of this work <span class="beta">BETA</span></h2>  <div id="CURNOI-OKAEOA" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/CURNOI"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Newton on Islandworld: Ontic-Driven Explanations of Scientific Method.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Adrian Currie" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Adrian%20Currie"><span class="name">Adrian Currie</span></a> & <a class="discreet" title="View other works by Kirsten Walsh" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Kirsten%20Walsh"><span class="name">Kirsten Walsh</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2018</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Perspectives on Science</em> 26 (1):119-156.</span></div><div id="CURWEM-2-OKAEOA" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/CURWEM-2"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Why Experiments Matter.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Adrian Currie" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Adrian%20Currie"><span class="name">Adrian Currie</span></a> & <a class="discreet" title="View other works by Arnon Levy" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Arnon%20Levy"><span class="name">Arnon Levy</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2018</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy</em> (9-10):1-25.</span></div><div id="LEVWEM-OKAEOA" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/LEVWEM"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Why Experiments Matter.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Arnon Levy" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Arnon%20Levy"><span class="name">Arnon Levy</span></a> & <a class="discreet" title="View other works by Adrian Currie" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Adrian%20Currie"><span class="name">Adrian Currie</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2019</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy</em> 62 (9-10):1066-1090.</span></div><div id="BROTHI-3-OKAEOA" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/BROTHI-3"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Testing Hypotheses in Macroevolution.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Lindell Bromham" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Lindell%20Bromham"><span class="name">Lindell Bromham</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2016</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A</em> 55:47-59.</span></div><div id="BERTRR-2-OKAEOA" class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/BERTRR-2"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">The Resisted Rise of Randomisation in Experimental Design: British Agricultural Science, C.1910–1930.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Dominic Berry" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Dominic%20Berry"><span class="name">Dominic Berry</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2015</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences</em> 37 (3):242-260.</span></div><p><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/citations/OKAEOA">View all 6 citations / Add more citations</a> <h2>Similar books and articles</h2> <div class="simList"> <div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/NOLSOO"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Some Observations on a Popperian Experiment Concerning Observation.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Robert Nola" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Robert%20Nola"><span class="name">Robert Nola</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1990</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie</em> 21 (2):329-346.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/LEBPDA"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Professor Darlington and the Confirmation of Laws.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Hugues Leblanc" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Hugues%20Leblanc"><span class="name">Hugues Leblanc</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1959</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Philosophy of Science</em> 26 (4):364-366.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/BOGEAO"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Experiment and Observation.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by James Bogen" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/James%20Bogen"><span class="name">James Bogen</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2002</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> In Peter K. Machamer & Michael Silberstein (eds.), <em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/MICTBG">The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Science</a></em>. Cambridge: Blackwell. pp. 128--148.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/MAHSAO"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Subjective and Objective Confirmation.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Patrick Maher" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Patrick%20Maher"><span class="name">Patrick Maher</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1996</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Philosophy of Science</em> 63 (2):149-174.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/SHATCO-3"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">The Concept of Observation in Science and Philosophy.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Dudley Shapere" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Dudley%20Shapere"><span class="name">Dudley Shapere</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1982</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Philosophy of Science</em> 49 (4):485-525.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/SOLOAE"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Observation and Experiment in Ecological Research.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Rafael González Del Solar" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Rafael González Del%20Solar"><span class="name">Rafael González Del Solar</span></a> & <a class="discreet" title="View other works by Luis Marone" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Luis%20Marone"><span class="name">Luis Marone</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2010</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> In Wenceslao González (ed.), <em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/GONNMP">New Methodological Perspectives on Observation and Experimentation in Science</a></em>. Netbiblo.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/DAROTC"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">On the Confirmation of Laws.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Jared Darlington" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Jared%20Darlington"><span class="name">Jared Darlington</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1959</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Philosophy of Science</em> 26 (1):14-24.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/GOOTAO-2"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Theory and Observation: The Experimental Nexus.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by David Gooding" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/David%20Gooding"><span class="name">David Gooding</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1990</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">International Studies in the Philosophy of Science</em> 4 (2):131 – 148.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/SPOLCP"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Laws, Ceteris Paribus Conditions, and the Dynamics of Belief.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Wolfgang Spohn" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Wolfgang%20Spohn"><span class="name">Wolfgang Spohn</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2002</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Erkenntnis</em> 57 (3):373-394.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/EDIFRC"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">From Relative Confirmation to Real Confirmation.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Aron Edidin" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Aron%20Edidin"><span class="name">Aron Edidin</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1988</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Philosophy of Science</em> 55 (2):265-271.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/BRAFPA"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Four Problems About Self-Locating Belief.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by D. Bradley" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/D.%20Bradley"><span class="name">D. Bradley</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2012</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Philosophical Review</em> 121 (2):149-177.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/SCHEOO-2"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Experimentation or Observation? Of the Self Alone or the Natural World?</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by Emanuel A. Schegloff" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/Emanuel A.%20Schegloff"><span class="name">Emanuel A. Schegloff</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">2004</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Behavioral and Brain Sciences</em> 27 (2):271-272.</span></div><div class="citation"><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/rec/SWICBC"><span class="articleTitle recTitle">Choosing Between Confirmation Theories.</span></a><a class="discreet" title="View other works by R. G. Swinburne" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/s/R. G.%20Swinburne"><span class="name">R. G. Swinburne</span></a> - <span class="pubYear">1970</span> - <span class="pubInfo"> <em class="pubName">Philosophy of Science</em> 37 (4):602-613.</span></div></div> <h2>Analytics</h2> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034js_/https://www.google.com/jsapi"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> google.load("visualization", "1", {packages:["corechart"]}); google.setOnLoadCallback(drawChart); function drawChart() { var data = new google.visualization.DataTable(); data.addColumn('date', 'Date'); data.addColumn('number', 'Downloads'); data.addRows([ [new Date(2011,1,16),37], [new Date(2011,2,2),11], [new Date(2011,3,2),5], [new Date(2011,4,27),1], [new Date(2011,5,2),1], [new Date(2011,6,6),2], [new Date(2011,8,6),1], [new Date(2011,9,2),3], [new Date(2011,10,4),2], [new Date(2011,11,15),2], [new Date(2012,0,4),1], [new Date(2012,1,11),1], [new Date(2012,2,13),2], [new Date(2012,3,13),3], [new Date(2012,5,18),1], [new Date(2012,6,12),1], [new Date(2012,9,8),1], [new Date(2012,10,23),1], [new Date(2013,5,30),1], [new Date(2013,6,1),3], [new Date(2013,7,5),2], [new Date(2013,9,19),2], [new Date(2013,10,2),3], [new Date(2013,11,4),6], [new Date(2014,0,12),4], [new Date(2014,1,1),3], [new Date(2014,2,6),10], [new Date(2014,3,17),1], [new Date(2014,4,31),1], [new Date(2014,6,1),8], [new Date(2014,7,4),1], [new Date(2014,10,2),3], [new Date(2015,1,11),1], [new Date(2015,2,2),5], [new Date(2015,3,15),1], [new Date(2015,4,29),1], [new Date(2015,6,4),1], [new Date(2015,9,16),2], [new Date(2015,10,3),2], [new Date(2016,0,10),3], [new Date(2016,2,5),19], [new Date(2016,3,4),1], [new Date(2016,4,23),1], [new Date(2016,7,12),1], [new Date(2016,8,1),1], [new Date(2016,9,30),1], [new Date(2016,10,5),1], [new Date(2017,1,2),3], [new Date(2017,5,13),1], [new Date(2017,6,6),1], [new Date(2018,9,2),1], [new Date(2018,11,5),1], [new Date(2019,0,7),3], [new Date(2019,1,9),2], [new Date(2019,2,11),1], [new Date(2019,3,29),2], [new Date(2019,4,11),1], [new Date(2019,6,6),2], [new Date(2019,7,23),1], [new Date(2019,10,17),1], [new Date(2019,11,21),4], [new Date(2020,0,4),9], [new Date(2020,4,7),3], [new Date(2020,5,9),2], [new Date(2020,6,2),2], [new Date(2020,9,23),1], [new Date(2020,10,5),1], [new Date(2020,11,2),1], [new Date(2021,2,15),1], [new Date(2021,3,6),2], [new Date(2021,5,14),2]]); var options = { chartArea:{left:50,top:10,width:"90%",height:"150"}, interpolateNulls: true, legend:{position:'none'}, hAxis:{format:'MMM y'}, vAxis:{baseline:"0"}, lineWidth:'2', colors:['#109D49'], }; var format = new google.visualization.DateFormat({pattern:"MMM yyyy"}); format.format(data,0); var chart = new google.visualization.AreaChart(document.getElementById('chart_div')); chart.draw(data,options); } </script> <div class="row clearfix"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-12 col-md-12 col-lg-3" style="text-align:left;margin-top:20px"> <b>Added to PP index</b> <br> 2011-02-16 <br><br> <b>Total views</b> <br> <span itemprop="interactionCount">213</span> ( #45,399 of 2,433,553 )<br><br> <b>Recent downloads (6 months)</b> <br> 5 ( #139,938 of 2,433,553 )<p> <span class="ll" onclick="faq('downloads');">How can I increase my downloads?</span> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-12 col-md-12 col-lg-9" style="font-size:smaller"> <b>Downloads</b> <div id="chart_div" style="text-align:left;"> </div> </div> </div> <h2>My notes</h2> <div> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://auth.philpapers.org/login?service=https://philpapers.org/cas.pl&gateway=1&persist%5Bafter%5D=%2Frec%2FOKAEOA">Sign in to use this feature</a> </div> </div> <div class="ml-3 hidden-sm hidden-xs rec-side"> <div class="sideBox creditBox"> <div class="sideBoxH">About us</div> <div class="sideBoxC"> <center> <a class="sponsor" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://cdp.uwo.ca/"><img alt="Centre for Digital Philosophy" style="height:85px" alt="CDP" border="0" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/CDP-logo.gif"></a> <a class="sponsor" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://www.uwo.ca/philosophy"><img style="height:45px" alt="UWO" border="0" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/western.gif"></a> <a class="sponsor" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://pdcnet.org/"><img alt="Phiosophy Documentation Center" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/pdc.jpg" border="0" style="height:75px"></a>   <a class="sponsor" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://philosophy.sas.ac.uk/"><img alt="Institute of Philosophy, London" style="height:60px" border="0" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/ip-logo-white.png"></a>  </center> </div> </div> <div class="sideBox creditBox" style="max-width:250px;min-width:180px;"> <div class="sideBoxH">Editorial team</div> <div class="sideBoxC"> General Editors:<br> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://www.dbourget.com/">David Bourget</a> (Western Ontario)<br> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://consc.net/chalmers">David Chalmers</a> (ANU, NYU) <br> <br> Area Editors:<br> <a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/1">David Bourget</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/101427">Gwen Bradford</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/31">Berit Brogaard</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/13269">Margaret Cameron</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/2">David Chalmers</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/195">James Chase</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/2788">Rafael De Clercq</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/2834">Ezio Di Nucci</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/20041">Barry Hallen</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/8358">Hans Halvorson</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/42">Jonathan Ichikawa</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/9918">Michelle Kosch</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/3014">Øystein Linnebo</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/61">JeeLoo Liu</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/23744">Paul Livingston</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/912">Brandon Look</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/324">Manolo Martínez</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/10866">Matthew McGrath</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/4781">Michiru Nagatsu</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/5174">Susana Nuccetelli</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/70">Giuseppe Primiero</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/202">Jack Alan Reynolds</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/4160">Darrell P. Rowbottom</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/882122">Aleksandra Samonek</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/3858">Constantine Sandis</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/121">Howard Sankey</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/631">Jonathan Schaffer</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/13916">Thomas Senor</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/6920">Robin Smith</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/45">Daniel Star</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/6621">Jussi Suikkanen</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/14464">Lynne Tirrell</a><br><a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/profile/7255">Aness Webster</a> <br><br> <a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/all">Other editors</a><br> <a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/contact.html">Contact us</a><br> <a href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/about.html">Learn more about PhilPapers</a> <br><br>  </div> </div>   </div> </div> </div> </div> <br> <br>   </div>  <div class="yui-skin-sam" style="z-index:3000"> <div class="ppskin" id="container"></div> <div id="load_c" style="display:none"> <div id="load_c2"> <div id="loadmsg">loading ..</div> <img id="loadimg" width="16" height="16" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/generic-load.gif"> </div> </div> <div id="outer-con" class="ppskin" style="z-index:1000"> <div id="editor-con" style="display:none"> <div class="hd"></div> <div class="bd" id="editor-bd" style=""></div> </div> <div id="categorizer-con" style="display:none"> </div> </div> </div>  </div> <div class="container footer-container panel panel-default panelb-body"> <div id="footerWrap"> <div class="footer centered" style=""> <div id="fb-root"></div> <script> var authResponse; window.fbAsyncInit = function() { /* FB.init({ appId : '315507632137867', // App ID channelUrl : '//web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://bits/channel.html', // Channel File status : true, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML }); */ FB.init({appId: '315507632137867', status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true, oauth:true, channelUrl:"https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/assets/raw/channel.html"}); FB.getLoginStatus(function(response) { if (response.authResponse) { // logged in and connected user, someone you know //fb_step2(response.authResponse); authResponse = response.authResponse; } else { // no user session available, someone you dont know } }); FB.Event.subscribe('auth.login', function(response) { if (response.session) { fb_step2(response.authResponse); } else { } }); // Additional initialization code here }; // Load the SDK Asynchronously (function(d){ var js, id = 'facebook-jssdk', ref = d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement('script'); js.id = id; js.async = true; js.src = "//web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js"; ref.parentNode.insertBefore(js, ref); }(document)); </script> <div style="margin-bottom:10px" class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.facebook.com/PhilPapersPlus" data-send="true" height="63" max_rows="1" data-show-faces="false"></div>  <div class="hidden-xs"> <div class="centered" style="padding-bottom:5px"><table class="centered"><tr><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/applied-ethics" rel="subsection">Applied ethics</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/epistemology" rel="subsection">Epistemology</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/history-of-western-philosophy" rel="subsection">History of Western Philosophy</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/meta-ethics" rel="subsection">Meta-ethics</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/metaphysics" rel="subsection">Metaphysics</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/normative-ethics" rel="subsection">Normative ethics</a></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-biology" rel="subsection">Philosophy of biology</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-language" rel="subsection">Philosophy of language</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-mind" rel="subsection">Philosophy of mind</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-religion" rel="subsection">Philosophy of religion</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/browse/science-logic-and-mathematics" rel="subsection">Science Logic and Mathematics</a></td><td valign="top" width="16%"><a style="font-size:smaller" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/categories.pl">More ...</a></td></tr></table></div> </div>  <div class="btnmenu"> <a rel="subsection" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/">Home</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/recent">New books and articles</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/categories.pl">Bibliographies</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/journals">Philosophy journals</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/bbs">Discussions</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/index/">Article Index</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/about.html">About PhilPapers</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/api">API</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/contact.html">Contact us</a> | <a rel="subsection" href="/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/codeofconduct.html">Code of conduct</a> </div> <br> <a class="sponsorbtm" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://cdp.uwo.ca/"><img style="height:75px" alt="CDP" border="0" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/CDP-logo.gif"></a> <a class="sponsorbtm" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://pdcnet.org/"><img alt="Phiosophy Documentation Center" src="/web/20210624202034im_/https://philpapers.org/philpapers/raw/pdc.jpg" border="0" style="height:75px"></a> <br> <div> PhilPapers logo by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://www.behance.net/AndreaAndrews">Andrea Andrews</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://www.behance.net/MeghanDriscoll">Meghan Driscoll</a>. </div> This site uses cookies and Google Analytics (see our <a rel="nofollow" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/terms.html#analytics">terms & conditions</a> for details regarding the privacy implications). <br> <br>Use of this site is subject to <a rel="nofollow" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/help/terms.html">terms & conditions</a>. <br>All rights reserved by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://philpapers.org/foundation">The PhilPapers Foundation</a><br> <br> Page generated Thu Jun 24 20:20:35 2021 on philpapers-web-5c94c4569d-vqncb  </div> </div> </div>  </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20210624202034js_/https://philpapers.org/dynamic-assets/webpack/webpack.0b3b29ba73299b8a5309.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var onload_functions = new Array(); onload_functions[0] = function() { basicOnLoad() }; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> window.onload = function() { // store pre-loaded menus for my biblio etc. for (x=0;x<onload_functions.length;x++) { onload_functions[x](); } } </script> <script type="text/javascript"> // Google analytics var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/https://ssl." : "https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202034/http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-6029851-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); </script> </body> </html>