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In chapter 39.1 of Gravitation, by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler, it is asserted, quite reasonably, that a theory of gravitation (and, I assume, quite generally) must satisfy the three following criteria :

  • Self-consistency (no contradictions)
  • Agreement with past experiments
  • Completeness (every experiment within its domain of applicability should be predictible)

This seems like some rather common criteria, but no source is given for these. Is there an origin to that list of criteria?

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    $\begingroup$ This is just the consistency/soundness/completeness triple of conditions on a theory that Hilbert used in his program, adapted to an empirical theory. Even the adaptation (by positivists) has been a platitudinal ideal in philosophy of science since 1930s. In a less crisp form, one can trace this to empiricist conceptions of science from mid 19th century, if not earlier. $\endgroup$
    – Conifold
    Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 7:28
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    $\begingroup$ @Conifold This comment could/should probably be turned into an answer (with minor to no changes). $\endgroup$
    – Danu ♦
    Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 16:42

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