No.53 Referenced from ~ Part2 - Chapter 3 - Section 1-3

Presupposition that do not appear

N.R.Hanson disagrees with logical positivism's distinction between "theoretical statements" and the "observational statements" used to verify them, arguing that observations used to verify theories are also theory-laden, and that one cannot observe "the facts as they are".

However, if the presuppositions made when formulating a theory and when making observations to verify it are the same, then the existence of those presuppositions does not affect the series of actions, and therefore the validity of an observational statement should not be affected even if it is premised.

If I am in a room with the windows closed and, based on my memory, form a "theory" that "there is a tree standing outside," I can verify the truth of this by opening the window and observing the number of trees I can see. For if the existence of cognitive presuppositions had to be called into question in this situation, then it should had also been an issue when formulating the theory that "there is a tree standing outside."