World Theory

A world theory would require an adequacy both in hypothesis and evidence. In the view of Stephen C. Pepper, there's more to evidence than just data. > ยง5. _Evidence and interpretation merged in world hypotheses_. -- Another matter that comes out is the queer way in which the distinction between hypothesis and evidence, interpretation and fact, tends to disappear the greater the refinement of structural corroboration. In a world theory it is impossible to say where pure fact ends and interpretation of fact begins. Within the theory itself the distinction is clear. The theory will tell you what in fact is fact and what in fact is theory. But another equally reliable theory will draw the line in another place. > * World Hypotheses: A Study in Evidence (1942), Chapter IV: Hypotheses, p. 79.