Physicalism
Physicalism
The thesis, developed within Scientific Empiricism (q.v., , II B), that every descriptive term in the language of science (in the widest sense, including social science) is connected with terms designating observable properties of things. This connection is of such a kind that a sentence applying the term in question is intersubjectively (q.v.) confirmable by observations (see Verification). The application of physicalism to psychology is the logical basis for the method of behaviorism (q.v.). See papers by O. Neurath, R. Carnap, C. G. Hempel, in Erkenntnis, 2, 1931; 3, 1932; 4, 1934; Scientia 50, 1931; Rev. de Synthese 10, 1935; Phil. Science 3, 1936; S. S. Stevens in Psych. Bull. 36, 1939. — R.C.