Abstract
AbstractThis chapter is the second of three case studies demonstrating the potential impacts of methodological naturalism. It argues that scientific methodology includes a surprising extra-empirical principle that says that we should respect a certain kind of common sense. According to this principle, if we have two theories that both are compatible with the data, then we should choose the theory that diverges least from the manifest image (the way the world appears to be). The notion of divergence from the manifest image is discussed in detail. It is then demonstrated that if one is a methodological naturalist, the extra-empirical principle in question will impact philosophical debates about composition.
Publisher
Oxford University PressNew York
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