Virtues of a Good Theory

Ernan McMullin was a professor of philosophy at University of Notre Dame, his fields
of study were theology, cosmology and philosophy of science (Garvey 2011). He was also an
enthusiast of the life of Galileo Galilei. He had also held the position as the chair for history and
philosophy of science and member of committees of other scientific related studies during his
time.

The Gist
The task of science lies in the empirical assessment of ideas, wherein scientists partake in
the observation of certain phenomena and it is from here that they draw conclusions from and
attempt to explain or describe how that phenomena occurs. Those alleged claims out from
empirical observation are formally called as theories. Theories are observed phenomena, theories
are somewhat guesses with valid proofs that may not be necessarily true, yet as theory remains a
contingent claim it does not lose the merit of being true provided its nature to be less erroneous
or has the virtues of a good theory.

Before the acknowledgement of scientific theories, scientific claims were deemed to be

grounded on logical positivism (those which can be solved with direct observables are the only
things that are worth studying) where it requires scientific theories to have epistemic assessment
and observational statements, but this limits the progress of scientific knowledge as it is to strict
with its ground hence cause a self-refuting effect to logical positivism.

Logical positivism is strictly rule based and has to be understood in the same manner by
all. However, knowledge does not always amount to laws of science as McMullin emphasized
that theory assessment “involves the prior experience of the person judging as well as that
person’s understanding of what the value in question amounts to.”
These theory values are the “permanent attributes of science” or formally called as theory virtues
as McMullin intended to be understood as a presentation of attribution rather than “values”
which is ambiguous. The following are the virtues of a good theory:
 Empirical fit and Explanatory power - to account for data already in hand, the extent to
which it does so is obviously a significant measure of its success.

This means scientific theories must be empirically adequate so that they can be tested by
observable gathering of data. However, a scientific theory may go beyond empiricism; however
it may only result in more errors later on. Theories must also be explainable, because if it merely
describes the phenomena then knowledge cannot progress especially if there is an unanswered
question “how?” but merely a “what?”.

Internal virtues - theories’ logical construction in its own right. This refers to the
structure of the reasoning in the theory itself before being tested to other theories.
Consistency - the frequency in which a theory appears to be the case.
A theory must be logical in its claim that the observed phenomenon is being claimed insofar as
its occurrence, that means to say that a theorist must not smuggle another claim in which it was
not presented.
Coherence - the absence of ad hoc features.
Coherence requires no unwanted elements for a theory to proceed clearly towards a clear
direction where it claims something to be the case. If there are more than one answer to the claim
of the theory then most likely it merely may cause a nuisance or distraction.
Simplicity - the manner in which a theory can be understood easily.
One of the most important key features of a good theory is the simplicity of its reasoning, that it
can be understood in the most basic way. It has been observed that the simpler a theory is the
more sound than those crazy complex presentations of a theory.

Contextual virtues - this refers to the assessment of a theory when it is being studied in
the light of its entirety in the cognition.
Consonance - Consistency with the wider theoretical context takes on a greater or
lesser significance depending on the epistemic authority of that segment of the context and the
degree of its involvement with the theory.
A theoretical element in which its nature is being observed in relation to other theories. How
does it stand its ground in its absence, and how does it affect other theories with its presence.
 Optimality - the extrinsic explanatory worth of a theory with regards to the
merits of its rivals.
The pursuit of a theory is to provide the best explanation to a certain phenomenon, in
which theories may not always be found in those physically observable circumstances.
Optimality then allows theories to be taken as the best explanation or “inference to best
explanation” if there are no retroductively presentable alternatives.

Diachronic virtues - those that manifest themselves only over the course of time, as the
career of the theory unfolds.
Fertility - the possibility that the original theory was, in fact, nothing more than
an ingenious way of saving the phenomena at hand, the postulated explanatory structure
amounting to nothing more than useful fiction.
A good theory has an element of possibility or predictive nature in which it brings the spectator
outside the dimension of its claim,wherein it gives a thirst for confirmation, a somewhat novel of
a kind.

Consilience - the ability of unifying different phenomena over the course of time.
Another attribution of a good theory is that it reconciles different ideas into a mature unified
idea. Like a chieftain settling two opposing minds in unity for goodwill. A similar concept as the
synthesis in the dialectical process of Hegel.

Durability - the extent to which a theory withstands the test or different

challenges.
We know that a theory is strong if it still works or is still proving its relevance throughout
a tough time of critiques over a period of time. Theories like Newton’s theory of motion for
example, has been persisting itself and remained reigning as the best explanation about the
nature of motion or the Copernican’s theory of revolution which have withstood the test of time.

Conclusion
McMullin’s postulations on the good qualities of a scientific theory are showing relevant
explanations as to how those qualities affect the quasi behavior of a theory. His claims towards
the virtue of a good theory is itself theoretical where it leaves open the possibility of better
postulations later on as the philosopher himself posited that his findings is a mere guide towards
efficacy and fruitful direction for science and may it be falsified if proven to be not the case. But
for as long as nothing had done any better than McMullin in the question of his theory his point
is taken as “inference to the best explanation”.

References
Garvey, Michael O. 2011. “In Memoriam: Rev. Ernan McMullin, Notre Dame philosopher of
science.” Notre Dame News.
https://news.nd.edu/news/in-memoriam-rev-ernan-mcmullin-notre-dame-philosopher-of-s
cience/.