08-12-2009, 12:32 AM
Paul B,
While Paul M's profession may explain (if not excuse) his proclivities, your description above has nothing to do with the scientific method. I shouldn't have to tell you that good science requires a hypothesis that doesn't stand up to the observable facts must change, not be defended.
And in the end, that is exactly why van Wees' hypothesis has currency among scholars today. It does tend to fit the observable facts, even if it does clash with the dearly held beliefs of the past. That currency also means he can't simply dismissed because you happen to hold those beliefs.
On another note Ferguson's article is the only one of the above that I haven't got. Its not available on JSTOR or elsewhere online, but we will be getting it shortly from the UofT library, which does have it in its holdings.
FYI, Ferguson wrote it in 1918 in Varians Africa II. Per the reviews it was very well received in its day, and its interesting to see it resurface among Wheeler's collection of recent scholarship on the subject of archaic Greek warfare. I look forward to reading it a great deal.
While Paul M's profession may explain (if not excuse) his proclivities, your description above has nothing to do with the scientific method. I shouldn't have to tell you that good science requires a hypothesis that doesn't stand up to the observable facts must change, not be defended.
And in the end, that is exactly why van Wees' hypothesis has currency among scholars today. It does tend to fit the observable facts, even if it does clash with the dearly held beliefs of the past. That currency also means he can't simply dismissed because you happen to hold those beliefs.
On another note Ferguson's article is the only one of the above that I haven't got. Its not available on JSTOR or elsewhere online, but we will be getting it shortly from the UofT library, which does have it in its holdings.
FYI, Ferguson wrote it in 1918 in Varians Africa II. Per the reviews it was very well received in its day, and its interesting to see it resurface among Wheeler's collection of recent scholarship on the subject of archaic Greek warfare. I look forward to reading it a great deal.
Cole
