Concetti comparativi, concetti quantitativi e problema della misurazione

Comparative Concepts, Quantitative Concepts and the Problem of Meas-urement. According to the classic conception of scientific revolution by Thom- as Kuhn, the progress of science is marked by epistemological breaks and the establishment of new scientific paradigms. According to this perspective, the birth of Galilean and Newtonian science would be characterized by a substantial discontinuity with respect to ancient science due to a direct transition from a qualitative to a quantitative description of phenomena. Other authors, such as P. Duhem and W. Shea, have argued on the other hand in favor of a greater continuity in the development of scientific theories. To understand the historical transformation of the cognitive content of scientific concepts, it may be fruitful to refer to the perspective outlined by R. Carnap to study the logical evolution of concepts in his Philosophical Foundations of Physics, in which he stressed the essential function of comparative concepts in the transition from qualitative to quantitative concepts of science. Considering and discussing the problem of measurement in classical and quantum physics, we will try to show the importance of comparative concepts for the formation of quantitative concepts and their impact in the development of measurement procedures by extending Carnap’s analysis from the logical to the historical context.