Abstract
In this book, we shall produce a research program in metaphysics. Following Lakatos, a research program in metaphysics consists of three parts:1 (1) a theory about what things there are, which stands at the “core” of the program; (2) a “heuristic” which grounds the principles of investigation and explanation, organizes the data to be explained, and provides a problem solving machinery for transforming recalcitrant data into confirming evidence; and (3) a “protective belt” of auxiliary hypotheses which grow out of the heuristic to guard the metaphysical theory against refutation. Our particular research program can be characterized using this framework.
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© 1983 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
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Zalta, E.N. (1983). Introduction. In: Abstract Objects. Synthese Library, vol 160. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6980-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6980-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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