Demography in a New Key: A Theory of Population Theory

Abstract

The widespread opinion that demography is lacking in theory is based in part on a particular view of the nature of scientific theory, logical empiricism. A newer school of philosophy of science, the semantic or model-based view, provides a different perspective on demography, one that enhances its status as a scientific discipline. From this perspective, much of formal demography can be seen as a collection of substantive models of population dynamics (how populations and cohorts behave), in short, theoretical knowledge. And many theories in behavioral demography – often discarded as too old or too simplistic – are perfectly good scientific theories, useful for many purposes, although often in need of more rigorous statement.