Critical Scientific Realism

This book comes to the rescue of scientific realism, showing that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. Philosophical realism holds that the aim of a particular discourse is to make true statements about its subject matter. Ilkka Niiniluoto surveys different kinds of realism in various areas of philosophy and then sets out his own critical realist philosophy of science.

The Varieties of Realism

1

(20)

The problems of realism

1

(3)

Science and other belief systems

4

(5)

Critical scientific realism and its rivals

9

(4)

Realism and the method of philosophy

13

(8)

Realism in Ontology

21

(21)

Materialism, dualism, and idealism

21

(2)

Popper's three worlds

23

(2)

Existence, mind-independence, and reality

25

(3)

The world and its furniture

28

(8)

Arguments for ontological realism

36

(6)

Realism in Semantics

42

(37)

Language as representation

42

(5)

Logical, analytic, and factual truth

47

(4)

How semantics is effable: model theory

51

(4)

Truth as correspondence: Tarski's definition

55

(9)

Truthlikeness

64

(15)

Realism in Epistemology

79

(30)

Certainty, scepticism, and fallibilism

79

(6)

Knowledge of the external world

85

(3)

Kant's `Copernican revolution'

88

(3)

Critical epistemological realism

91

(4)

Epistemic probability and verisimilitude

95

(5)

Epistemic theories of truth

100

(9)

Realism in Theory Construction

109

(51)

Descriptivism, instrumentalism, and realism

109

(11)

Meaning variance, reference, and theoretical terms

120

(12)

Laws, truthlikeness, and idealization

132

(12)

Examples of the realism debate

144

(16)

Realism in Methodology

160

(45)

Measuring the success of science

160

(10)

Axiology and methodological rules

170

(4)

Theory-choice, underdetermination, and simplicity

174

(11)

From empirical success to truthlikeness

185

(7)

Explaining the success of science

192

(6)

Rationality and progress in science

198

(7)

Internal Realism

205

(22)

Ways of worldmaking

205

(6)

Putnam on internal realism

211

(7)

World-versions and identified objects

218

(9)

Relativism

227

(25)

Varieties of relativism

227

(2)

Moral relativism

229

(7)

Cognitive relativism

236

(6)

Feminist philosophy of science

242

(10)

Social Constructivism

252

(27)

The Edinburgh programme: strong or wrong?

253

(9)

Finitism

262

(6)

Life in laboratory

268

(11)

Realism, Science, and Society

279

(23)

Social reasons for realism and anti-realism

280

(8)

Science as a cultural value

288

(5)

Science in a free society

293

(9)

References

302

(29)

Index of Names

331

(8)

Index of Subjects

339

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Critical Scientific Realism

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials