Underdetermination

The theories of empirical underdetermination by the evidence (English underdetermination of theories by evidence) referred to several variants epistemological theses. Thus, there is a / any theory which is confirmed by some empirical observations, at least one alternative theory, which is also supported by exactly the same empirical data. In other words, often / always ( " determined " ) is certain / all empirical data, the choice between a theory and one or more alternative theory ( n) is not defined.

Such underdetermination theses are controversial, just as they are ever to formulate and explicate exactly. If one accepts the Duhem - Quine thesis or certain other holistic theses, followed by a underdetermination thesis usually einfachhin. This or without reasonable arguments for underdetermination thesis can also support a general epistemological anti-realism. An early and well-known representatives of this strategy of argument is about Bas van Fraassen.

Thomas Kuhn has tried to explain the history of scientific theory such that repeatedly occurred cases in which a decision between alternative theories is excluded insofar as they involve themselves with different interpretations of the evidence base, which could be described as a more powerful version of underdetermination thesis.