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Cited by 405

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 19 of the 19 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Approaches to Reduction

Schaffner, Kenneth F.·1967·Philosophy of Science
DOI 10.1086/288137
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Abstract

Four current accounts of theory reduction are presented, first informally and then formally: (1) an account of direct theory reduction that is based on the contributions of Nagel, Woodger, and Quine, (2) an indirect reduction paradigm due to Kemeny and Oppenheim, (3) an “isomorphic model” schema traceable to Suppes, and (4) a theory of reduction that is based on the work of Popper, Feyerabend, and Kuhn. Reference is made, in an attempt to choose between these schemas, to the explanation of physical optics by Maxwell's electromagnetic theory, and to the revisions of genetics necessitated by partial biochemical reductions of genetics. A more general reduction schema is proposed which: (1) yields as special cases the four reduction paradigms considered above, (2) seems to be in better accord with both the canons of logic and actual scientific practice, and (3) clarifies the problems of meaning variance and ontological reduction.

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Metadata

Authors
Schaffner, K. F.
Venue
Philosophy of Science
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1967-06
Volume
34
Issue
2
Pages
137-147
ISSN
  • 0031-8248 (ISSN-L)
  • 1539-767X
DOI
10.1086/288137
OpenAlex
W2008925460
Cited by
405
References
19
FWCI
44.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Approaches to Reduction. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1086/288137
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Schaffner, K. F. (1967). Approaches to Reduction. Philosophy of Science. https://doi.org/10.1086/288137

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

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