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Is the Contingentist/Inevitabilist Debate a Matter of Degrees?

Martin, Joseph D (2012) Is the Contingentist/Inevitabilist Debate a Matter of Degrees? In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Debates between contingentists and inevitabilists contest whether the results of successful science are contingent or inevitable. This paper addresses lingering ambiguity in the way contingency is defined in these debates. I argue that contingency in science can be understood as a collection of distinct concepts, distinguished by how they hold science contingent, by what elements of science they hold contingent, and by what those elements are contingent upon. I present a preliminary taxonomy designed to characterize the full range positions available and illustrate that these constitute a diverse array, rather than a spectrum.

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Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Martin, Joseph Dmart1901@umn.edu
Additional Information: Please refer to published version (Philosophy of Science 80, no. 5 (2013): 919–930).
Keywords: Contingency; inevitability; social construction
Subjects: General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism
Depositing User: Dr. Joseph D. Martin
Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2014 19:54
Last Modified: 03 Apr 2014 19:54
Item ID: 10596
Official URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/674003
Subjects: General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism
Date: 21 June 2012
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10596

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