Quatro teses de subdeterminação de teorias pelos indícios observacionais : significados, plausibilidades e implicações

Abstract

This paper singles out and analyzes four theses of underdetermination of scientific theories by observational evidence, showing that each has its own meaning, plausibility,and implications. We show that the strongest theses are nothing but conjectures, whereasthe weaker ones are more plausible but do not carry with them robust philosophical conse-quences — such as scientific anti-realism — although they do provide evidence of systematically unknown theoretical alternatives in science, as well as indirect evidence of the use ofvalue-laden criteria of theory choice.