Contemporary Scientific Realism

The Challenge from the History of Science

Inbunden, Engelska, 2021

Av Timothy D. Lyons, Timothy D. Lyons, Peter Vickers, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) Lyons, Timothy D. (Professor of the Philosophy of Science, Professor of the Philosophy of Science, University of Durham) Vickers, Peter (Associate Professor and Reader, Department of Philosophy, Associate Professor and Reader, Department of Philosophy, Timothy D Lyons

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Scientific realists claim we can justifiably believe that science is getting at the truth. However, they have faced historical challenges: various episodes across history appear to demonstrate that even strongly supported scientific theories can be overturned and left behind. In response, realists have developed new positions and arguments. As a result of specific challenges from the history of science, and realist responses, we find ourselves with an ever-increasing dataset bearing on the (possible) relationship between science and truth. The present volume introduces new historical cases impacting the debate and advances the discussion of cases that have only very recently been introduced. At the same time, shifts in philosophical positions affect the very kind of case study that is relevant. Thus, the historical work must proceed hand in hand with philosophical analysis of the different positions and arguments in play. It is with this in mind that the volume is divided into two sections, entitled "Historical Cases for the Debate" and "Contemporary Scientific Realism." All sides agree that historical cases are informative with regard to how, or whether, science connects with truth. Defying proclamations as early as the 1980s announcing the death knell of the scientific realism debate, here is that rare thing: a philosophical debate making steady and definite progress. Moreover, the progress it is making concerns one of humanity's most profound and important questions: the relationship between science and truth, or, put more boldly, the epistemic relation between humankind and the reality in which we find ourselves.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2021-10-05
Mått163 x 244 x 25 mm
Vikt726 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor394
FörlagOUP USA
ISBN9780190946814

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Timothy D. Lyons is Chair of Philosophy and Professor of Philosophy of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. He has numerous publications on the scientific realism debate in, for instance, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Science, Synthese, and The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Science. He is the author of Scientific Realism: Elements in the Philosophy of Science (Cambridge University Press, 2021).Peter Vickers is Associate Professor and Reader in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. He is the author of Understanding Inconsistent Science (Oxford University Press, 2013) and the Associate Editor of the journal Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. He has several publications on the scientific realism debate in, for instance, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Science, Synthese, and The European Journal for Philosophy of Science.

Chapter 1. Introduction, Timothy D. Lyons and Peter Vickers Part I: Historical Cases for the DebateChapter 2. Theoretical Continuity, Approximate Truth, and the Pessimistic Meta-Induction: Revisiting the Miasma Theory, Dana TulodzieckiChapter 3. What Can the Discovery of Boron Tell Us About the Scientific Realism Debate?, Jonathon HrickoChapter 4. No Miracle After All: The Thomson Brothers' Novel Prediction that Pressure Lowers the Freezing Point of Water, Keith HutchisonChapter 5. From the Evidence of History to the History of Evidence: Descartes, Newton, and Beyond, Stathis PsillosChapter 6. How Was Nicholson's Proto-Element Theory Able to Yield Explanatory as well as Predictive Success?, Eric R. ScerriChapter 7. Selective Scientific Realism and Truth-Transfer in Theories of Molecular Structure, Amanda J. Nichols and Myron A. PennerChapter 8. Realism, Physical Meaningfulness, and Molecular Spectroscopy, Teru Miyake and George E. Smith Part II: Contemporary Scientific RealismChapter 9. The Historical Challenge to Realism and Essential Deployment, Mario AlaiChapter 10. Realism, Instrumentalism, Particularism: A Middle Path Forward in the Scientific Realism Debate, Kyle StanfordChapter 11. Structure not Selection, James LadymanChapter 12. The Case of the Consumption Function: Structural Realism in Macroeconomics, Jennifer JhunChapter 13. We Think, They Thought: A Critique of the Pessimistic Meta-Meta Induction, Ludwig FahrbachChapter 14. The Paradox of Infinite Limits: A Realist Response, Patricia Palacios and Giovanni ValenteChapter 15. Realist Representations of Particles: The Standard Model, Top Down, and Bottom Up, Anjan Chakravartty Index