Tag: purpose

Why simplicity is so highly desirable

Above all, our theory explains why simplicity is so highly desirable. To understand this there is no need for us to as­sume a ‘principle of economy of thought’ or anything of the kind. Simple statements, if knowledge is our object, are to be prized more highly than less simple ones because they tell us more; because their empirical content is greater; and because they are better testable. [128]

The goal of the scientist’s endeavours

My only reason for proposing my criterion of demarcation is that it is fruitful: that a great many points can be clarified and explained with its help. ‘Definitions are dogmas; only the conclusions drawn from them can afford us any new in­sight’, says Menger. This is certainly true of the definition of the concept ‘science’. It is only from the consequences of my definition of empirical science, and from the methodological decisions which depend upon this definition, that the scientist will be able to see how far it conforms to his intuitive idea of the goal of his endeavours. [33-4]