On How Watson and Crick Discovered What Watson and Crick had Suggested: The “Folk” Concept of Discovery Rediscovered (2008)
Abstract -- This article opens with general and historical remarks on philosophy of science's problems with the concept of discovery. Then, drawing upon simple examples of Watson's and Crick's non-philosophical usage, I characterize phrases of the type x discovers y semantically. It will subsequently be shown how widespread philosophical discussion on discovery violates the semantic constraints of phrases of the type x discovers y. Then I provide a philosophical reconstruction of x discovers y that is in keeping with the folk notion of discovery. The philosophical ingredients of this approach are taken from a certain aspect of action theory and from epistemological reliabilism. The approach draws upon the concept of superior action and connects this concept to progressive research. In contrast to normal actions, superior actions are primarily explained by competencies. This perspective includes reminders of what some nineteenth-century philosopher-scientists had advocated as a competence-oriented view on scientific research. Finally, this approach is applied to the case of Watson's and Crick's discovery. Keywords -- Discovery; DNA; reliabilism; knowledge; superior actions; competencies; familiarity with theories
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Edelson, Edward;
(2000)
Francis Crick and James Watson and the Building Blocks of Life
(/isis/citation/CBB000100517/)
Article
Argüelles, Juan Carlos;
(2007)
The Double Helix Revisited: A Paradox of Science and a Paradigm of Human Behaviour
(/isis/citation/CBB000831509/)
Article
Schindler, Samuel;
(2008)
Model, Theory, and Evidence in the Discovery of the DNA Structure
(/isis/citation/CBB001230045/)
Article
de Chadarevian, Soraya;
(2003)
Relics, Replicas, and Commemorations
(/isis/citation/CBB000600547/)
Book
Gareth Williams;
(2019)
Unraveling the Double Helix: The Lost Heroes of DNA
(/isis/citation/CBB941542186/)
Book
Everson, Ted;
(2007)
The Gene: A Historical Perspective
(/isis/citation/CBB000700846/)
Article
Kauffman, George B.;
(2002)
DNA Structure: Happy 50th Birthday!
(/isis/citation/CBB001252535/)
Article
Elkin, Lynne Osman;
(2003)
Rosalind Franklin and the Double Helix
(/isis/citation/CBB000340191/)
Article
Gingras, Yves;
(2010)
Revisiting the “Quiet Debut” of the Double Helix: A Bibliometric and Methodological note on the “Impact” of Scientific Publications
(/isis/citation/CBB000933112/)
Book
Glynn, Ian;
(2010)
Elegance in Science: The Beauty of Simplicity
(/isis/citation/CBB001212055/)
Article
Šustar, Predrag;
(2007)
Crick's Notion of Genetic Information and the “Central Dogma” of Molecular Biology
(/isis/citation/CBB000831432/)
Article
Gibbons, Michelle G.;
(2012)
Reassessing Discovery: Rosalind Franklin, Scientific Visualization, and the Structure of DNA
(/isis/citation/CBB001210576/)
Article
Olby, Robert;
(2003)
Why Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Double Helix?
(/isis/citation/CBB000600549/)
Thesis
Karanikas, Marianthe V.;
(1992)
Metaphor and invention: Case studies in the writing of biology
(/isis/citation/CBB001565413/)
Article
Hardcastle, Gary;
(1999)
Are there scientific goals?
(/isis/citation/CBB000083281/)
Article
Agnes Bolinska;
Joseph D. Martin;
(2020)
Negotiating history: Contingency, canonicity, and case studies
(/isis/citation/CBB215794755/)
Article
Carlisle, E. Fred;
(1985)
Metaphoric reference in science and literature: The examples of Watson and Crick and Roethke
(/isis/citation/CBB000044741/)
Article
Creager, Angela N. H.;
Morgan, Gregory J.;
(2008)
After the Double Helix: Rosalind Franklin's Research on Tobacco mosaic virus
(/isis/citation/CBB000850403/)
Book
Edelson, Edward;
(1998)
Francis Crick and James Watson and the building blocks of life
(/isis/citation/CBB000083265/)
Article
Chadarevian, Soraya de;
(2003)
Portrait of a Discovery: Watson, Crick, and the Double Helix
(/isis/citation/CBB000340622/)
Endeavour: Review of the Progress of Science
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
The Chemical Educator
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Be the first to comment!