The Experimenters' Regress: A Conceptual and Historical Evaluation

Abstract

[eng] The goal of this thesis is to show, against Harry Collins, that there are scientific and internal grounds for the resolution of controversies in experimental practice. The approach I take is twofold: On the one hand, I develop a semantics of experimental results that seeks to show the dependence of experimental results upon theoretical knowledge and how this can be used as a conceptual way out of the experimenters' regress. On the other hand, I review, discuss, and propose an alternative reading to the cases studies Collins proposes as evidence of the external resolution of the experimenters' regress.