Structure of the Scientific Theories

A scientific theory consists of a symbolic framework containing laws and concepts that are derived by deductive reasoning from fundamental laws and primitive concepts, and complemented by the correspondence or the relation between the symbolic concepts and the real objects. The symbolic framework is understood as a representation of the real, constructed by our minds like a realistic painting. In accordance with this point of view, scientific laws are not discovered but conceived or created by our minds. We show how this approach is organized by rational thinking, which is understood as an innate ability of the mind that emerges between childhood and adolescence. We also examine with some detail the structure of the past scientific theories, pointing out their postulates, or fundamental laws, and the primitive concepts. We will restrict ourselves to some of the physical theories, starting with those that emerged in the Hellenistic period, and then proceed to examine other theories until the end of the seventeenth century.

科学理论由包含定律与概念的符号框架所构成：其中的定律与概念均通过演绎推理从基础定律和原始概念推导得出，并辅以符号概念与实在对象之间的对应关系或关联。该符号框架可被理解为对实在的表征，由人类心智如同创作写实画作一般构建而成。据此观点，科学定律并非被发现，而是由人类心智构想或创造而来。本文阐明此种进路如何通过理性思维得以构建——理性思维被视为一种在童年至青少年时期涌现的心智先天能力。我们还将较为细致地考察过往科学理论的结构，阐明其公设（或基础定律）与原始概念。本研究将限定讨论若干物理学理论，从希腊化时期诞生的理论开始，随后依次考察其他理论直至17世纪末。