A Critique of the Arguments for Scientific Realism
Автор:Phil Rees Год: 2012 Издание:Книга по Требованию Страниц: 364 ISBN: 9781907962516 This book aims to show that the arguments offered in support of the most prevalent versions of scientific realism are unconvincing and offer no reason why an anti-realist position should not rationally be held. Several formulations of realism are examined and reduced to two. First, Convergent Ontological Scientific Realism (COSR) - the claim that most current successful theories are approximately true, and successive theories converge upon the truth. Second, Axiological Scientific Realism (ASR) - the claim that while many current theories may not even be approximately true, nevertheless, science aims for the truth. Axiological claims of all kinds are questioned and shown to be unhelpful. It is then argued that ASR theorists face difficulties, and need to also affirm COSR. Consequently, refuting COSR refutes ASR, and that is what the remainder of the book attempts to do. The concept of approximate truth is critiqued and shown to be incapable of doing the relatively precise job...
