inductivistn.adj.
/ɪnˈdʌktɪvɪst/ A. n.
One who follows or upholds inductivism or inductive methods; one who holds that the method of science is inductive. Cf. inductivism n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > empiricism > [noun] > inductivism or elements of > adherent of
inductive1877
inductionist1893
inductivist1940
1940 K. R. Popper in Mind XLIX. 421 Jeans was..originally an inductivist, that is, he thought that theories are obtained from experience by some more or less simple procedure.
1962 Listener 22 Mar. 513/2 The kind of sociologist whom Sartre despises, the cautious inductivist, collects facts but has no theoretical equipment to understand them.
1968 A. J. Ayer Origins Pragmatism 99 The inductivist was having a run of failures.
1968 J. J. C. Smart Between Sci. & Philos. vi. 196 The inductivists, who wish to justify inductive procedures.
B. adj.
Of, pertaining to, or employing inductivism or inductive methods; implying that the method of science is inductive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > empiricism > [adjective] > other theories or elements
descendental1847
scientistic1879
nomic1892
hypothetico-deductive1912
essentialist1938
inductivist1945
testable1945
observationalist1951
metascientific1965
1945 Mind 54 3 Certain ‘inductivist’ accounts of scientific procedure seem to assume that relevant evidence, or relevant data, can be collected in the context of an inquiry prior to the formulation of any hypothesis.
1956 E. H. Hutten Lang. Mod. Physics vi. 268 To believe that we learn by induction is part of the inductivist myth which identifies a psychological process with a logical method.
1960 E. H. Gombrich Art & Illusion ix. 321 This inductivist ideal of pure observation has proved a mirage in science no less than in art.
1968 J. J. C. Smart Between Sci. & Philos. vii. 247 It is doubtful..whether such an inductivist account of geometry will do.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
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n.adj.1940