Posts tagged ‘evolutionary theory’  July 26th, 2012  “It’s Just
a Theory” — What’s a Scientific Theory?  by Max Andrews  A
theory is distinct from a mere scientific explanation. 
Scientific explanation requires a causal explanation, which
requires a law-governed explanation.  Natural law describes but
does not explain natural phenomena.  Newton’s law of universal
gravitation described, but did not explain, what caused
gravitational attraction.  Theories unify empirical regularities
and describe the underlying process that accounts for these
phenomena.  Within theories are axioms, a small set of
postulates, which are not proved in the axiom system but assumed
to be true.[1]  A theory goes beyond natural laws and scientific
explanations in explaining the scientific explanations. A theory
refers to a body of explanatory hypotheses for which there is
strong support.[2]  Theories are a conjunction of axioms (of the
laws of nature) and correspondence of rules specified in a
formalized ideal language.  This ideal la