Current Issues
In the past few centuries, some statistical methods have been developed, for reasoning in the face of uncertainty, as an outgrowth of methods for eliminating error. This was an echo of the program of Francis Bacon's Novum Organum of 1620. Bayesian inference acknowledges one's ability to alter one's beliefs in the face of evidence. This has been called belief revision, or defeasible reasoning: the models in play during the phases of scientific method can be reviewed, revisited and revised, in the light of further evidence. This arose from the work of Frank P. Ramsey (1903–1930), of John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946), and earlier, of William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) in economics.
Later in the 20th century, methodological naturalism was emphasized by Robert T. Pennock as central to scientific method, partly in response to rise of creation science.
Read more about this topic: History Of Scientific Method
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