University of California Press Structure of Scientific Inference

Mary Hesse’s The Structure of Scientific Inference offers a rigorous, accessible reorientation of how science actually advances―beyond verificationism and simple falsification―to a dynamic, network-based account of theory, observation, and meaning. Engaging Duhem, Quine, Kuhn, and Feyerabend, Hesse dismantles the myth of a neutral observation language and shows how concepts are inevitably “theory-laden.” In its place, she develops a nuanced model in which scientific language grows by metaphor and analogy, observational reports are assessed for coherence within evolving theoretical webs, and truth retains both correspondence and coherence dimensions. The result is a powerful via media between logical formalism and historical relativism―one that preserves empirical content while explaining why paradigm shifts alter not just beliefs but the very meanings of our terms. Moving from philosophical diagnosis to positive methodology, Hesse builds a Bayesian, probabilistic logic of science that generalizes beyond the deductive “covering-law” ideal. She explicates confirmation, induction, and analogy (including detailed treatment of models and simplicity) and advances a bold thesis about the finitude of scientific laws’ domains. Case studies―most notably Maxwell’s electrodynamics―demonstrate how analogical reasoning productively guides theory construction without sacrificing realism. For philosophers, historians, and practicing scientists seeking a disciplined account of inference that matches the texture of real inquiry, this book is both a corrective to positivist orthodoxy and a toolkit for analyzing how science earns its claims to knowledge. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.