Concepts of Scientific Method from Aristotle to Newton

Abstract

The strength of interrogatively construed methodology depends on (1) its initial premises; (2) available answers. Nontrivial conclusions require that (1) or (2) include general propositions. Otherwise inquirers face Hume's problem of induction as an inference from particulars to generalizations. Neither Aristotle, medieval nominalists nor Newton faced this problem; Aristotle because he thought one can perceive the properties and interrelations of general forms in their instantiations in the soul; nominalists (who rejected Aristotle) because they assumed strong initial premises; and Newton because controlled experiments and systematic observations yield general truths about dependencies between variables. Induction meant for them a non-Humean process of extrapolating and interpolating partial generalizations.