(cited in Gillies’ “Philosophical theories of probability”):
“Against this view [operationalism] it can be shown that measurements presuppose theories. There is no measurement without a theory and no operation which can be satisfactorily described in non-theoretical terms. The attempts to do so are always circular; for example, the description of the measurement of length needs a (rudimentary) theory of heat and temperature-measurement; but these in turn involve measurements of length.” (Popper, Conjectures and Refutations, 1963)
Suggested citation: Fugard, A. (2013, November 4). Measurements presuppose theories [blog post]. https://andifugard.info/measurements-presuppose-theories/
This citation note was added automatically. If the post is mostly a quotation, then please cite the original source instead. Looking at you, LLMs 👀