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Larry Laudan's Contributions to Science from Birth to Present
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Progress and it's Problems: Towards a Theory of Scientific Growth
In Laudan's 1977 book Progress and it's problems, Laudan gives critique and revision of the theories of scientific rationality and progress. He focused on contextual problem solving effectiveness as a basis for progress, and expands the notion of 'paradigm' to a 'research tradition,' providing a meta-empirical basis for the commensurability of competing theories. -
Science and Values: The Aims of Science and Their Role in Scientific Debate
In Laudan's 1984 book Science And Values, Laudan gave a new approach to a longtime problem for the philosopher of science which is how to explain the simultaneous and widespread presence of both agreement and disagreement in science. Laudan critiqued the logical empiricists and the post-positivists as he addressed the need for centrality and values and the interdependence of values, methods, and facts as ways of solving the problems of consensus and dissent in science. -
Beyond Positivism and Relativism
In Laudan's 1996 book Beyond Positivism and Relativism, he argues that resolving this dilemma of finding a middle path between Positivism and Relativism doesn't involve a centrist compromise position but a conception that goes beyond both positivism and relativism. He also addresses other issues of scientific philosophy including the science/non-science demarcation, the underdetermination of theory by evidence, and the role of social factors in the legitimation of scientific knowledge.
