Scientific explanation models, inference to the best explanation and the DNA’s double helix history
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2178-6224v18i2p147-175Keywords:
Inference to the best explanation, Scientific explanation models, Peter Lipton, DNA double helixAbstract
This paper aims to carry out a case study, seeking to apply Peter Lipton’s explanation model called inference to the best explanation (IBE) to the historical episode of the construction of the DNA double-helix model, in the 20th century. In addition, it evaluates the efficiency of such a model when confronted with the history of science and to what extent it rivals or even surpasses other explanation models consolidated in the philosophy of science literature, such as Carl Hempel’s nomological-deductive and inductive-statistical models, Wesley Salmon’s statistical relevance model, or Bas van Fraassen’s pragmatic model of explanation. It concludes that the inference to the best explanation (IBE) model appears more effective in illustrating this historical episode in genetics than the other philosophical proposals analyzed.
References
ACHINSTEIN, P. The nature of explanation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
ANDRADE, Mariana Aparecida Bologna Soares de Andrade; Ana Maria de Andrade Caldeira. O modelo de DNA e a biologia molecular: inserção histórica para o ensino de biologia. Filosofia e História da Biologia, 4: 139-165, 2009. Disponível em: https://www.abfhib.org/FHB/FHB-04/FHB-v04-05-Mariana-Andrade-Ana-Maria-Caldeira.pdf.
BROMBERGER, Sylvian. Why-questions. Pp. 86-111, in: COLODNY, Robert G. (ed.). Mind and cosmos: Essays in contemporary science and philosophy. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1966.
CAMPOS, Daniel G. On the distinction between Peirce’s abduction and Lipton’s inference to the best explanation. Synthese, 180 (3): 419-442, 2011. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9709-3.
CARTWRIGHT, Nancy. Causal laws and effective strategies. Noûs 13 (4): 419-437, 1979. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.2307/2215337.
CASTRO, Eduardo G. Explicação científica. Pp. 1-39, in: BRANQUINHO, João; SANTOS, Ricardo (eds). Compêndio em linha de problemas de filosofia analítica. Lisboa: Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa, 2020.
CROUSE, David. X-ray Diffraction and the discovery of the structure of DNA: A tutorial and historical account of James Watson and Francis Crick’s use of X-ray diffraction in their discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Journal of Chemical Education, 84 (5): 803-809, 2007. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1021/ed084p803.
DOWE, Phil. Physical causation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
FRIEDMAN, M. Explanation and scientific understanding. The Journal of Philosophy, 71 (1):5-19, 1974. Disponível em: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2024924.
HARMAN, Gilbert. [1965]. Inferência da melhor explicação. Trad. Marcos Rodrigues da Silva; Mirieli Sicote de Lima. Dissertatio, 47: 325-332, 2018.
HEMPEL, Carl. Filosofia da ciência natural. Trad. Plinio S. Rocha. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar Editora, 1974.
HEMPEL, Carl; OPPENHEIM, Paul. Studies in the logic of explanation. Philosophy of Science, 15 (2): 135-175, 1948.
KITCHER, Philip. Explanatory unification and the causal structure of the world. Pp. 410-505, in: SALMON, Wesley; KITCHER, Philip (eds). Scientific explanation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989.
KITCHER, Philip; SALMON, Wesley. Van Fraassen on explanation. The Journal of Philosophy, 84 (6): 315-330, 1987. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.2307/2026782.
LATOUR, Bruno. Ciência em ação: como seguir cientistas e engenheiros sociedade afora. Trad. Ivone C. Benedettí. São Paulo: Editora Unesp, 2011.
LIPTON, Peter. Is explanation a guide to inference? A reply to Wesley C. Salmon. Pp. 93-120, in: HON, Giora; RAKOVER, Sam S. (orgs.). Explanaton: Theoretical approaches and applications. New York: Springer, 2001.
LIPTON, Peter. Inference to the best explanation. London: Routledge, 2004.
LIPTON, Peter. É o melhor bom o suficiente? Tradução de Marcos Rodrigues da Silva e Alexandre Meyer Luz. Princípios, 17 (27), 2010.
MAYR, E. O desenvolvimento do pensamento biológico: diversidade, evolução e herança. Trad. Ivo Martinazzo. Brasília: Editora da UNB, 1998.
MOULINES, Carlos Ulises. O desenvolvimento moderno da filosofia da ciência (1890-2000). Trad. Cláudio Abreu. São Paulo: Associação Filosófica Scientiae Studia, 2020.
OLBY, Robert The path to the double helix. London: MacMillan, 1974.
OLBY, Robert. Quiet debut for the double helix. Nature, 421: 402-405, 2003. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01397.
OLIVEIRA, Marcos B.; FERNANDEZ, Brena Paula M. Hempel, Semmelweis e a verdadeira tragédia da febre puerperal. Scientiae Studia, 5 (1): 49-79, 2007. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-31662007000100004.
PAULING, Linus; COREY, Robert B. A proposed structure for the nucleic acids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 39 (2): 84-97, 1953. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.39.2.84.
PIRO, Oscar E. Breve historia del ADN, su estructura y función. Ciencia e Investigación, 64 (3): 25-50, 2014. Disponível em: https://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/142843/Documento_completo.pdf?sequence=1.
SALMON, Wesley. Scientific explanation and the causal structure of the world. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
SALMON, Wesley. Four decades of scientific explanation. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1989.
SALMON, Wesley. Causation and explanation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
SALMON, Wesley. Statistical Explanation. Pp. 29-87, in: SALMON, Wesley; JEFFREY, Richard; GREENO, James. Statistical explanation and statistical relevance. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971.
SARDI, Gabriel C. Uma análise latouriana do conceito de conhecimento anterior e seu emprego no realismo científico. Kínesis, 12 (31): 133-151, 2020. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.36311/1984-8900.2020.v12n31.p133-151.
SARDI, Gabriel C. Algumas distinções entre a abdução de Charles S. Peirce e a inferência da melhor explicação de Gilbert Harman. Problemata -Revista Internacional de Filosofia, 13 (2): 62-80, 2022. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.7443/problemata.v13i2.60451.
SCHRODINGER, Erwin. What is life? The physical aspect of the living cell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1946.
SCRIVEN, Michael. Explanations, predictions, and laws. Pp. 170-230, in:. FEIGL, Herbert; Maxwell, GROVER (eds.) Scientific explanation, space, and time (Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 3). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1962.
SILVA, Marcos Rodrigues da. As controvérsias a respeito da participação de Rosalind Franklin na construção do modelo da dupla hélice. Scientiae Studia, 8 (1); 69-92, 2010a. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-31662010000100004.
SILVA, Marcos Rodrigues da. Maurice Wilkins e a polêmica acerca da participação de Rosalind Franklin na construção do modelo da dupla hélice do DNA. Filosofia e História da Biologia, 5 (2): 369-384, 2010b. Disponível em: https://abfhib.org/FHB/FHB-05-2/FHB-5-2-19-Marcos-Rodrigues-da-Silva.pdf.
SILVA, Marcos Rodrigues da; MINIKOSKI, Debora. A Filosofia da Ciência e o Conhecimento Anterior. Problemata -Revista Internacional de Filosofia. 8 (3): 54-68, 2017. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.7443/problemata.v8i3.35215.
SILVA, Marcos Rodrigues da; SARDI, Gabriel C. A distinção entre abdução e inferência da melhor explicação: a abordagem de Daniel Campos. Cognitio, 21 (2): 321-334, 2020. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.23925/2316-5278.2020v21i2p321-334.
THAGARD, Paul. A melhor explicação: critérios para a escolha de teorias. Trad. Marcos Rodrigues da Silva. Cognitio, 18 (1): 145-160, 2017. Disponível em: http://dx.doi.org/10.23925/2316-5278.2017v18i1p145-160.
VAN FRAASSEN, Bas. A imagem científica. Trad. Luiz Henrique Dutra. São Paulo: Discurso Editorial, 2007.
WATSON, James D. A dupla-hélice: como descobri a estrutura do DNA. Versão e-book. Trad. Rachel Botelho. Editora Schwarcz-Companhia das Letras, 2014.
WATSON, James D.; CRICK, Francis H. C. Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for desoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature, 171: 737-738, 1953. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Filosofia e História da Biologia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The published manuscripts become the property of the journal Philosophy and History of Biology, and the authors accept the terms of this license and agree to assign the copyright for publication, in addition to agreeing with the publication's commitment to offering open access to all of its content. The information and concepts issued in signed papers are the sole responsibility of their authors.
cademia.edu
