Rudolph Carnap (1966) Philosophical Foundations of Physics Chapter 23: Theories and Nonobservables Source Philosophical Foundations of Physics (1966) publ. Basic Books Inc. Chapters 23 to 26 reproduced here. ONE OF THE most important distinctions between two types of laws in science is the distinction between what may be called (there is no generally accepted terminology for them) empirical laws and theoretical laws. Empirical laws are laws that can be confirmed directly by empirical observations. The term "observable" is often used for any phenomenon that can be directly observed, so it can be said that empirical laws are laws about observable. A philosopher might object that the intensity of an electric current is not really observed. Only a pointer position was observed. An ammeter was attached to the circuit and it was noted that the pointer pointed to a mark labelled 5.3. Certainly the current's intensity was not observed. It was inferred from what was observed. The physicist would reply that this was true enough, but the inference was not very complicated. The procedure of measurement is so simple, so well established, that it could not be doubted that the ammeter would give an accurate measurement of current intensity. Therefore, it is included among what are called observables. Empirical laws, in my terminology, are laws containing terms either directly observable by the senses or measurable by relatively simple techniques. Sometimes such laws are called empirical generalisations, as a reminder that they have been obtained by generalising results found by observations and measurements. They include not only simple qualitative laws (such as, "All ravens are black") but also quantitative laws that arise from simple measurements. The laws relating pressure, volume, and temperature of gases are of this type. Ohm's law, connecting the electric potential difference, resistance, and intensity of current, is another familiar example. The scientist makes repeated measurements, finds certain regularities, and expresses them in a law. These are the empirical laws. As indicated in earlier chapters, they are used for explaining observed facts and for predicting future observable events. | |
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