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The Duhem-Quine Thesis
“A prediction rarely comes from one hypothesis alone; it travels with auxiliary assumptions.”
01 / SUMMARY
In short
Testing a theory also uses initial conditions, instruments, models, and background assumptions. When a prediction fails, logic alone does not identify which component needs revision.
03 / SCENE
In the wild
An unexpected astronomical observation may point to a bad theory, faulty calibration, or an object missing from the model.
04 / LIMIT
The limit
The thesis does not say every theory can reasonably be rescued through unlimited adjustments.
FINAL NOTE
What remains
When a test fails, list the full bundle of assumptions that produced its prediction.