Table of Contents

The Logic of Scientific Knowledge.- Levels of Knowledge and Stages in the Process of Knowledge.- I. Differences Between the Problems, 'Sensation-Thought' and 'Empirical-Theoretical'.- II. Basis of the Division of the Sentences of the Language of Science into Levels.- III. The Semantic System: Admissible Objects of Thought and Modes of Expression.- IV. Empirical and Theoretical Objects of Science.- V. Sentences Which Express Facts and Sentences Which Formulate Laws.- VI. Stages in the Process of Knowledge.- 1. Observation.- 2. Analysis of observation protocols and discovery of empirical connections.- 3. Prediction by means of facts and empirical connections.- VII. Types of Explanation of Empirical Connections.- VIII. Stages in the Process of Knowledge, II.- 4. Elaboration of the basic ideas and discovery of the fundamental relations, basic to explanation: formation of scientific theory.- 5. Deduction of some theoretical laws from other theoretical laws: development of theory.- 6. Explanation of scientific facts, i.e., discovery through empirical relations of corresponding theoretical models.- 7. The discovery of empirical connections through theoretical descriptions.- Problems of the Logical-Methodological Analysis of Relations Between the Theoretical and Empirical Planes of Scientific Knowledge.- I. The Traditional Inductivist Approach to the Problem of the Relations Between Theoretical and Empirical Knowledge and its Limitations.- II. Critique of the Neopositivist Approach to the Analysis of the Relations Between the Theoretical and Empirical Levels of Scientific Knowledge.- III. Contemporary Logic of Science on the Relations Between Theoretical and Empirical Knowledge: The Connection of the Theoretical and Empirical Levels of Knowledge in the Structure of Hypothetical-Deductive Theory.- IV. Contemporary Logic of Science on the Relations Between Empirical and Theoretical Knowledge: The Problem of the Establishment of Logical Correspondence Between Theoretical and Empirical Knowledge.- Logical and Physical Implication.- The Deductive Method as a Problem of the Logic of Science.- I. Introduction.- II. Deduction and Deductive Inference.- III. Deductive System and Deductive Theory.- IV. Types of Deductive Systems.- V. Problems of the Logical-Epistemological Analysis of the Deductive Sphere of Knowledge.- Probability Logic and its Role in Scientific Research.- I. Introduction.- II. Systems of Probability Logic.- 1. Various interpretations of the notion of probability.- 2. Systems of probability logic, based on the frequency interpretation of probability.- 3. Systems of probability logic which consider probability as some sort of logical relation between propositions.- III. Probability Logic and Statistical Inference.- IV. Probability Logic and the Problem of the Selection of Hypotheses.- V. Probability Logic and the Problem of Confirmation of Hypotheses.- The Basic Forms and Rules of Inference by Analogy.- I. The General Schema of Inferences by Analogy.- II. Traditional Analogy.- III. Causal and Substantial Analogy.- IV. Analogy of Consequence.- IV. Analogy of Correlation.- VI. Functional-Structural and Structural-Functional Analogy.- On the Types of Definition and Their Importance for Science.- I. Preliminary Remarks.- II. Types of Definition.- III. The Problem of Definitions in Formal Systems.- IV. On the Importance of Definitions in Science.- Idealization as a Method of Scientific Knowledge.- I. The Abstraction of Identity.- II. Idealization.- III. Some Methodological Considerations.- The Statistical Interpretation of Fact and the Role of Statistical Methods in the Structure of Empirical Knowledge.- I. The Nature of Empirical Knowledge and the Principle of Verification.- 1. The schema of the process of verification.- 2. Substitution of the confirmation principle for the principle of verification.- 3. The principle of complete verifiability.- 4. Data of a single observation and the cardinal relation.- 5. The transition from data to statistical resume.- 6. The fact of science.- 7. The fact and the cardinal relation.- 8. Summary.- II. The Statistical Nature of the Object and the Structure of the Construction of Empirical Knowledge.- 1. The object and objective object of investigation.- 2. The statistical nature of the empirical object.- 3. The components of the structure.- 4. The empirical situation and the single datum.- 5. Conditions for obtaining ?i = ?i.- 6. Control-experiments.- 7. Investigation of the statistical nature of the set-up.- 8. Example of an experiment.- 9. The method of statistical modelling.- 10. The statistical nature of the so-called single observation.- Index of Names.