18 research outputs found
Understanding (in) Newtonâs Argument for Universal Gravitation.
In this essay, I attempt to assess Henk De Regt and Dennis Dieks recent pragmatic and contextual account of scientific understanding on the basis of an important historical case-study: understanding in Newtonâs theory of universal gravitation and Huygensâ reception of universal gravitation. It will be shown that de Regt and Dieksâ CIT-criterion, which stipulates that the appropriate combination of scientistsâ skills and intelligibility-enhancing theoretical virtues is a condition for scientific understanding, is too strong. On the basis of this case-study, it will be shown that scientists can understand each othersâ positions qualitatively and quantitatively, despite their endorsement of different worldviews and despite their convictions as what counts as a proper explanation