ESTETSKI KRITERIJUMI U PROCENI NAUČNIH TEORIJA: PRELAZAK SA GEOCENTRIZMA NA HELIOCENTRIZAM
AESTHETIC CRITERIA IN THE EVALUATION OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES: TRANSITION FROM GEOCENTRISM TO HELIOCENTRISM

Summary/Abstract: The text focuses on the role of aesthetic criteria in the evaluation and acceptance of scientific theories. The first part of the text presents and analyzes the theory of James McAllister. McAllister explains the role of aesthetic criteria in science by appealing to aesthetic induction: based on the empirical success of previously accepted scientific theories, scientists project aesthetic value onto certain properties of those theories, such as simplicity, symmetry, the possibility of visualization, etc. McAllister cites the transition from geocentrism to heliocentrism as a case study in the history of science that supports this phenomenon. After presenting and analyzing McAllister’s theory, the author presents several objections both to the explanation of the transition to heliocentrism through aesthetic induction, and to the more general understanding of the formation of aesthetic criteria in scientific practice.

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