Can There be a Philosophy of Archaeology?: Processual Archaeology and the Philosophy of ScienceCan There Be a Philosophy of Archaeology? provides a historical and philosophical analysis of the rise and fall of the philosophical movement know as logical positivism, focusing on the effect of that movement on the budding science of archaeology. Significant problems resulted from the grafting of logical positivism onto what became known as processual, or new archaeology, and as a result of this failure, archaeologists distanced themselves from philosophers of science, believing that archaeology would be best served by a return to the dirt. By means of a thorough analysis of the real reasons for failures of logical empiricism and the new archaeology, as well as a series of archaeological case studies, Krieger shows the need for the resumption of dialogue and collaboration between the two groups. In an age where philosophers of science are just beginning to look beyond the standard examples of scientific practice, this book demonstrates that archaeological science can hold its own with other sciences and will be of interest to archaeologists and philosophers of science alike. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Logical Positivism and Scientific Explanation | 5 |
The Nature of Hempelian Explanation | 14 |
Explanation and the Social Sciences | 21 |
The New Archaeology | 31 |
The Origins of New Archaeology | 33 |
The Need for Change | 37 |
The Aims Features and Methods of New Archaeology | 39 |
Laws and the Philosophy of Science | 74 |
Disunified Science and the Future of Archaeology | 95 |
Philosophical Problems Archaeological Responses | 99 |
Science Values and Archaeology | 110 |
A Call for Reevaluation | 116 |
Future Studies Archaeological Explanation and the Philosophy of Science | 119 |
Moving Forward | 126 |
Bibliography | 129 |
The New Archaeologys New Archaeologists | 47 |
Problems and Issues | 62 |
Philosophical Accounts of Archaeological Explanation | 66 |
Philosophy and Archaeology PostPositivism | 69 |
Index | 139 |
143 | |
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Common terms and phrases
A. J. Ayer analysis anthropology antirealist approach archae archaeological evidence archaeological explanation artifacts Binford causal ceramic chaeological changes chapter claim contemporary context covering law explanations covering law models critiques D-N model dating direct historical approach emphasis ence equifinality ethnographic ethnographic data example excavation existence explanation sketches explanatory fact factors field focus focusing Fraassen function given goal Hempel and Oppenheim Hempel's models Hempelian explanation Hill Hill's historians hypotheses Ibid issues Kosso Kuhn Lewis Binford Logical Positivism logical positivists methodology methods Mithen models of explanation Munson objects ologists ology particular past Philistine philosophers of science philosophical explanation philosophy of archaeology physics planation Plog position pottery prediction problems processual archaeology question realist reason reduction region relevant reprint edition result Salmon scientific explanation scientists smudge pits specific statistical Syro-Palestinian testing texts theoretical entities theory tion understand unification unified University Vienna Circle Wesley Salmon