Structural Theory of Science and Measurements

Abstract

When dealing with problems of measurement, philosophy of science adresses two major philosophical questions. The ontological one is questioning about the existence of quantities, the epistemological one is concerned with the application of arithmetic. The Non-Statement view on scientific theories tries to solve these problems of measurement, on the one hand, by assuming the realism of mathematical structures (their objective existence in nature) and thereby a non-problematic application of arithmetic, while on the other hand, this view does not presuppose realism of quantity. Compared to the classical (e.g. “statement”) view, this is rather unusual, since the latter requires a realist conception of quantity, if it wants to plead for a non-problematic application of arithmetic to the nature. In this paper, I show, how the Non-Statement solution is at least formally feasible, and how its the scope is limited.