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The question as to whether scientific theories can be shown to be true or false is a complex one. The answer depends on one's interpretation of the meaning of theory. To what does it refer? Is its role to reveal the nature of reality, or is it ....

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... we must first understand what Duhem means by scientific theory. He introduces two possibilities as to the nature of a physical (which we can equate to 'scientific') theory. The first being that it is an explanation of the reality lying behind a group of experimental laws (those that are empirically determined). The second is that a physical theory is simply an abstract system to classify and summarize a group of laws. Taking the first possibility (a belief still held by many today): this seeks to look beneath the sensible appearances and find the reality beneath, which is causing the sensations we experience. However, this presents ...