ABSTRACT
An emphasis on system—on empirically testable theory—rather than on raw experience is what characterizes contemporary science. In the beginning of a science, when few facts and few generalizations are known, it is comparatively easy to set up theories, particularly with the help of the symbolic techniques of mathematics. Scientific theory can be studied either as an activity or as a finished even though not final product of that activity. The relative bulk and adequacy of theoretical work measures then the degree of advancement of a science, much as the relative bulk and efficiency of nervous system is an index of biological progress. A scientific theory is a system of hypotheses that is supposed to give a partial and approximate account of a bit of reality. The primitive concepts of a scientific theory should be as precise and rich as possible, and the primitive formulas of it should be semantically consistent, i.e. they should constitute a unified conceptual whole.
