The Routledge Handbook of Scientific Realism

471 Pages·2017·3.72 MB·English

by  Juha Saatsi

THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK
OF SCIENTIFIC REALISM
Scientific realism is a central, long-standing, and hotly debated topic in philosophy of science.
Debates about scientific realism concern the very nature and extent of scientific knowledge
and progress. Scientific realists defend a positive epistemic attitude towards our best theories
and models regarding how they represent the world that is unobservable to our naked senses.
Various realist theses are under sceptical fire from scientific antirealists, e.g. empiricists and
instrumentalists. The different dimensions of the ensuing debate centrally connect to numerous
other topics in philosophy of science and beyond.
The Routledge Handbook of Scientific Realism is an outstanding reference source – the first collection
of its kind – to the key issues, positions, and arguments in this important topic. Its thirty-four
chapters, written by a team of international experts, are divided into five parts:
• Historical development of the realist stance
• Classic debate: core issues and positions
• Perspectives on contemporary debates
• The realism debate in disciplinary context
• Broader reflections
In these sections, the core issues and debates are presented, analysed, and set into broader historical
and disciplinary contexts. The central issues covered include motivations and arguments for
realism; challenges to realism from underdetermination and history of science; different variants
of realism; the connection of realism to relativism and perspectivism; and the relationship between
realism, metaphysics, and epistemology.
The Routledge Handbook of Scientific Realism is essential reading for students and researchers in
philosophy of science. It will also be very useful for anyone interested in the nature and extent
of scientific knowledge.
Juha Saatsi is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the School of Philosophy, Religion and
History of Science, University of Leeds, UK.
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THE ROUTLEDGE
HANDBOOK OF
SCIENTIFIC REALISM
Edited by Juha Saatsi
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Juha Saatsi; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Juha Saatsi to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and
of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Saatsi, Juha, editor.
Title: The Routledge handbook of scientific realism / edited by Juha Saatsi.
Other titles: Handbook of scientific realism
Description: New York : Routledge, 2017. | Series: Routledge handbooks in
philosophy | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017032031| ISBN 9781138888852 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780203712498 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Science—Philosophy. | Realism.
Classification: LCC Q175.32.R42 R68 2017 | DDC 501—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017032031
ISBN: 978-1-138-88885-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-71249-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
List of contributors ix
Introduction: scientific realism in the 21st century 1
Juha Saatsi
PART I
Historical development of the realist stance 5
1 Realism and logical empiricism 7
Matthias Neuber
2 The realist turn in the philosophy of science 20
Stathis Psillos
PART II
Classic debate: core issues and positions 35
3 Success of science as a motivation for realism 37
K. Brad Wray
4 Historical challenges to realism 48
Peter Vickers
5 Underdetermination 60
Dana Tulodziecki
6 Kuhn, relativism and realism 72
Howard Sankey
v
Contents
7 Instrumentalism 84
Darrell P. Rowbottom
8 Empiricism 96
Otávio Bueno
9 Structural realism and its variants 108
Ioannis Votsis
10 Entity realism 120
Matthias Egg
11 Truthlikeness and approximate truth 133
Gerhard Schurz
PART III
Perspectives on contemporary debates 149
12 Global versus local arguments for realism 151
Leah Henderson
13 Perspectivism 164
Michela Massimi
14 Is pluralism compatible with scientific realism? 176
Hasok Chang
15 Scientific progress 187
Ilkka Niiniluoto
16 Realism and the limits of explanatory reasoning 200
Juha Saatsi
17 Unconceived alternatives and the Strategy of Historical Ostension 212
P. Kyle Stanford
18 Realism, antirealism, epistemic stances, and voluntarism 225
Anjan Chakravartty
19 Modeling and realism: strange bedfellows? 237
Arnon Levy
vi
Contents
20 Success and scientific realism: considerations from the
philosophy of simulation 250
Eric Winsberg and Ali Mirza
21 Scientific realism and social epistemology 261
Martin Kusch
PART IV
The realism debate in disciplinary context 277
22 Scientific realism and high-energy physics 279
Richard Dawid
23 Getting real about quantum mechanics 291
Laura Ruetsche
24 Scientific realism and primordial cosmology 304
Feraz Azhar and Jeremy Butterfield
25 Three kinds of realism about historical science 321
Derek Turner
26 Scientific realism and the earth sciences 333
Teru Miyake
27 Scientific realism and chemistry 345
Paul Needham
28 Realism about cognitive science 357
Mark Sprevak
29 Scientific realism and economics 369
Harold Kincaid
PART V
Broader reflections 381
30 Realism and theories of truth 383
Jamin Asay
31 Realism and metaphysics 394
Steven French
vii
Contents
32 Mathematical realism and naturalism 407
Mary Leng
33 Scientific realism and epistemology 419
Alexander Bird
34 Natural kinds for the scientific realist 434
Matthew H. Slater
Index 447
viii
CONTRIBUTORS
Jamin Asay is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. He works in
metaphysics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science, focusing on the topics of truth
and truthmaking. He is the author of The Primitivist Theory of Truth (2013).
Feraz Azhar is a philosopher of cosmology at Trinity College, Cambridge, UK. He has a PhD
in theoretical physics and will, from 2017, be at Harvard University.
Alexander Bird is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bristol. He is the author of
Philosophy of Science (2nd ed., 2005), Thomas Kuhn (2000), and Nature’s Metaphysics (2007). His
research interests include Kuhn, naturalism, epistemology, and the metaphysics of science.
Otávio Bueno is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department at the Uni-
versity of Miami. He works in philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of
logic, metaphysics, and epistemology. His latest book is Applying Mathematics: Immersion, Inference,
Interpretation (with Steven French, OUP, forthcoming).
Jeremy Butterfield is a Senior Research Fellow in philosophy of physics at Trinity College,
Cambridge, UK.
Anjan Chakravartty is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the John J. Reilly Center for
Science, Technology, and Values at the University of Notre Dame, and Editor in Chief of Studies
in History and Philosophy of Science. He is the author of A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism: Knowing
the Unobservable (2007) and Scientific Ontology: Integrating Naturalized Metaphysics and Voluntarist
Epistemology (2017).
Hasok Chang is the Hans Rausing Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the
University of Cambridge. He received his degrees from Caltech and Stanford and has taught at
University College London. He is the author of Is Water H2O? Evidence, Realism and Pluralism
(2012) and Inventing Temperature: Measurement and Scientific Progress (2004). He is a co-founder
of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP) and the Committee for Integrated
History and Philosophy of Science.
ix