Abstract
In modern science, explanation of events that relies on attributing errors to the object of analysis, implies dogmatism. However, error may be legitimately attributed to the researcher’s methods, observations, and theories. Reflection, or meta-theory, is an exception to this rule. Consequently, error cannot be attributed to the researcher’s theory or methods when they are themselves the issue under analysis. The attributing of error to the object of analysis is an extrapolated ontologization of a category of thought. The category of error, though superseded in modern natural sciences, is still in use in other fields like in political sciences. In the last analysis, there is no difference between fields of research regarding the category of error.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aguilar, Luis (ed.). Operation Zapata: The Ultrasensitive Report and Testimony of the Board ofInquiry on the Bay of Pigs (Frederick, MD: University Publications of America, 1981).
Aristotle. Metaphysics, Physics, Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics. In Barnes, Jonathan (ed.), The Complete Works of Aristotle, vols. I and II. Princeton University Press, 1984.
Bacon, Francis. Novum Organum (1620) (The New Organon, trans. By F. H. Anderson, Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1960).
Balaban, Oded. Politics and Ideology — A Philosophical Approach (Aldershot: Avebury, 1995).
Balaban, Oded. “The Modern Misunderstanding of Aristotle’s Theory of Motion,” Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 26, 1995, pp.1–10.
Collingwood, R. G. The Idea ofHistory (Oxford University Press, 1946).
Collingwood, R. G. An Essay on Metaphysics (Oxford University Press, 1948).
Dray, William, Laws and Explanation in History (Oxford University Press, 1960).
Drobisch, Moritz Wilhelm. Neue Darstellung der Logik nach ihren einfachsten Verhältnissen, nebst einem logischmathematischen Anhangen (Leipzig: L. Voss, 1875).
Feigl H. and Sellars W. (ed.). Readings in Philosophical Analysis, (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1949).
[Hempel 1942] Hempel, C. G. “The Function of General Laws in History,” The Journal ofPhilosophy, 1942, 35–48.
Hon, Giora. “Exploiting Errors,” Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 29 (1998), 465–79.
Mayo, Deborah G. Error and the Growth ofExperimental Knowledge (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
Meyerson, Émile. De l’explication dans les sciences (Paris: Payot, 1921). English transl. Explanation in the Sciences (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1991).
Neustadt, Richard and May, Ernest. Thinking in Time, The Uses ofHistory for Decision-Makers (New York: The Free Press, 1986).
Norris, Christopher. Resources ofRealism—Prospects for Post-Analytic Philosophy (London: Macmillan Press, 1997).
Pagels, Heinz R. The Cosmic Code: Quantum Physics as the Language of Nature (New York: Bantam Books, 1983).
Popper, Karl. The Logic of Scientific Discovery (New York: Basic Books, 1959).
Popper, Karl. Conjectures and Refutations (New York: Harper and Row, 1965).
Reichenbach, Hans. Nomological Statements and Admissible Operations (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1954).
Salmon, Wesley C. Causality and Explanation (Oxford University Press, 1998).
Swartz, Norman. The concept ofphysical law (Cambridge University Press, 1985).
[White 1943] White, Morton G. “Historical Explanation,” Mind, 1943, pp.212–229.
Wollheim, Richard. “Natural Laws,” in Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 5, New York: Macmillan and Free Press, 1967.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Balaban, O. (2001). The Use of Error as an Explanatory Category in Politics. In: Hon, G., Rakover, S.S. (eds) Explanation. Synthese Library, vol 302. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9731-9_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9731-9_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5827-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9731-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive