LOGICAL ANALYSIS AND DEFINITIONS OF AUXILIARY CONCEPTS IN THEORIES OF VARIOUS LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION
Valentin Nikonovich Karpovich
Institute of Philosophy and Law, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 8 Nikolaeva str., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Keywords: theory, experience, abstraction, observation, definition, decidability, reduction, operationalization
Abstract
Theoretical knowledge can contain various levels of abstraction, represented by logical constructs from the observed characteristics of objects in the subject area. The degree of abstraction is determined by the way in which the resulting structures are connected to experimental data. Auxiliary constructions are characterized by explicit or implicit definitions of theoretical concepts in terms of observational. One of the methods for building these definitions is the operationalization of abstractions by a system of reduction sentences. In this case the definiendum becomes "open", so as to be a logical and methodological technique for expanding the possible connections of the theoretical model by its practical applications.
|
