ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the logical empiricist’s reconstruction of theories as partially interpreted formal systems in the “ramseyfied” version Carnap developed in the late 1950s from suggestions provided by Ramsey in his posthumously published “Theories.” Particular attention is given to Carnap’s invention and use of the so-called Carnap sentence—over and above the so-called Ramsey sentence—in order to distinguish between the empirical part and the analytic part of theories. After presenting Winnie’s emendation of Carnap’s conception, the chapter analyzes the bearing of Putnam’s model-theoretic argument on it, dismissing David Lewis’s response to the latter but nevertheless diagnosing a deep difficulty for reconstructions of scientific theories by ramseyfication.
