"If by the ‘infinite complexity of nature’ is meant
only the infinite multiplicity of the phenomena it contains, there is no bar to
final success in theory making, since theories are not concerned with
particulars as such. So too, if what is meant is only the infinite variety of
natural phenomena... that too may be comprehended in a unitary theory... Nor
does it help to say that there is indeed a true explanatory theory in some
Platonic heaven but that it is infinitely complex and so not to be comprehended
by men. For if there can be an infinitely complex proposition, it will
certainly not be a single explanatory theory in any ordinary sense of that
phrase, but at the best an infinite conjunction of explanatory theories. Perhaps
we can produce successive approximations
to such
a conjunction, if there is
nothing else to work for, but in that case our best hope of success will
be by steady accumulation of the separate
items than by perpetual
revolution. "
William Kneale
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