Deductivism

Paper Summary:

This paper examines deductivism and its use in scientific explanations. The paper first discusses the components of deductivism - the premises on which the deduction works and the way that the premises lead to the conclusions. It also discusses whether this way of leading to conclusions is logical or not. The paper then compares this approach to scientific methodology with that of inductivism.

From the Paper:

"One of the problem that can be found in deductivism as a successful scientific method is the nature of the premises on which the entire deductive process is based and the obvious question of how we can actually determine the premises with which we start the deductive process, given the fact that the premises themselves cannot be actually deducted from anything else, but represent the initial phase of the deductive process."
"In my opinion, this is not an argument that can make us deviate from the support of deductivism as a scientific method. The facts that a deductive mechanism starts with are evidentiary facts, facts on which one can agree on in an uncontroversial manner and facts that can constitute reasonable and valid premises of our deductive mechanism."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Govier (1987). From Godden, David M. Deductivism as an interpretive strategy: a reply to Groarke's recent defense of reconstructive deductivism.
• Ratzsch, Del The Battle of Beginnings: Why Neither Side is Winning the Creation- Evolution Debate. InterVarsity Press. 1996.
• The Scientific Method. January 2007. On the Internet at http://barefootbum.blogspot.com/2007/01/scientific-method.html. Last retrieved on July 17, 2008
• Peter Godfrey-Smith. Theory and Reality. 2003
• Alan Musgrave, Essays on Realism and Rationalism. Rodopi, Amsterdam-Atlanta. 1999.

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• Essay # 46941 : "The Deductive-Nomological Model of Explanation"

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