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On Explanation in Archaeology: A Rebuttal to Fritz and Plog

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael E. Levin*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, City College, City University of New York

Abstract

This paper argues that the recommendation by Fritz and Plog-that archaeologists adopt the Deductive-Nomological model of scientific explanation-mistakes a conceptual explication for a substantive recommendation. This misinterpretation results in the recommendation of tautologies. The detailed examination of this misinterpretation leads to an investigation of logical inference, the justification of the D-N model, the theory-laden nature of archaeological classificatory predicates, the epistemic status of the laws involved in this data-language, and the relation of the Fritz-Plog research program to the problem of devising and verifying worthwhile hypotheses in archaeology.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1973

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References

Fritz, John M., and Plog, Fred T. 1970 The nature of archaeological explanation. American Antiquity 35:405412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hempel, C. G. 1962 Deductive-nomological vs. statistical explanation. In Minnesota studies in philosophy of science, Vol. 3, edited by Maxwell, G. and Feigl, H., pp. 98169. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Tarski, Alfred 1956 The concept of truth in formalized languages. In Logic, semantics, metamathematics, translated by Woodger, J. H., pp. 152278. Oxford, London.Google Scholar