Corpuscular Light Theory To Falsify The Hypothetico Model

The point of the first example, the Corpuscular light theory, was to falsify the Hypothetico Model. Corpuscular light theory is a theory that says that light is comprised of miniscule particles that travel in straight lines. Another hypothesis for the theory was that instead of small particles, they were actually waves. Salmon and Earman said the test hypothesis was light contains corpuscles that travel in straight lines and the initial condition was a circular object is brightly illuminated. They also said the observational prediction was the object casts a uniform circular shadow. After the experiment was conducted a shadow with a bright spot was noted. Because of that result, the observational prediction was incorrect. Therefore, either
However, you cannot disconfirm or confirm these auxiliary statements individually. You can only confirm or disconfirm these as a whole unit. This can be done empirically via experiments and whatever the observations and results are, they can only confirm or disconfirm the whole theory including all its sub theories but not just a single sub theory. Deductive holism complicates disconfirmation and confirmation in a manner such as the physicist example that Duhem explains. A physicist has prediction of an event. He also has a set of theories that explain that event. If the prediction of that event is not observed after the experiment is conducted then there is an issue with at least one of the statements that lead to the prediction of that event. The complication is that we are unsure which exact statement it is since the set of theories are all linked. To isolate the individual theory that causes the error would be very difficult if not possible since they are all linked and there are many of them. Duhem explains that physics is a system that cannot be broken down into intermediaries. It must be viewed as a whole. The doctor and physicist are similar in the sense that the doctor has to diagnose the body as a whole and see what is causing the issue with the system as a whole. He cannot just start cutting up the body and address the issue because the patient would die. He has to make his assumptions from the outside and take note on the symptoms and make his conclusion from there. On the contrary, a watchmaker can take the watch apart. As he does so, he can isolate all the pieces examine them and see which one is the faulty piece and fix it or replace it. The watchmaker does not embody holism at all whereas the doctor and physicist