New Books in Science Kenneth Aizawa, "Compositional Abduction and Scientific Interpretation: A Granular Approach" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
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Jan 10, 2026 Kenneth Aizawa, a philosophy professor at Rutgers University–Newark and author of 'Compositional Abduction and Scientific Interpretation', dives into the intriguing world of scientific reasoning. He explains how scientists infer unobservables, like the double-helix structure of DNA and the behavior of sodium ions in axons, through a method he calls singular compositional abduction. Aizawa critiques traditional views on abduction and emphasizes the importance of lower-level explanations, distinguishing them from broader hypotheses to shed light on the mechanistic foundations of scientific inquiry.
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Compositional Explanation Connects Levels
- Scientists explain observed axon currents by positing lower-level parts like sodium ions and membrane changes.
- Kenneth Aizawa argues these compositional explanations link unseen micro-entities to measured macroscopic events.
Photo 51 Sparking Double-Helix Insight
- Aizawa cites Watson seeing Rosalind Franklin's Photo 51 as a paradigmatic compositional abduction.
- He claims that image triggered the double-helix hypothesis by linking visual features to a microstructural explanation.
Intra-Level Experiments Drive Compositional Abduction
- Compositional abduction often arises from intra-level experiments: you manipulate and measure the same system then posit lower-level parts.
- Aizawa contrasts this with inter-level strategies emphasized by new mechanists like Craver.
