scientific realism
E695517
Scientific realism is a philosophical position holding that well-confirmed scientific theories genuinely describe both observable and unobservable aspects of a mind-independent reality.
Statements (52)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
epistemological view
ⓘ
metaphysical view ⓘ philosophical position ⓘ position in philosophy of science ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
biology
ⓘ
chemistry ⓘ fundamental physics ⓘ mature scientific theories ⓘ |
| associatedWithPhilosopher |
Bas van Fraassen (as critic)
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Hilary Putnam NERFINISHED ⓘ J. J. C. Smart NERFINISHED ⓘ Karl Popper NERFINISHED ⓘ Richard Boyd NERFINISHED ⓘ Wilfrid Sellars NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| challengedByArgument |
pessimistic meta-induction
ⓘ
underdetermination of theory by data ⓘ |
| concerns |
observable entities
ⓘ
scientific explanation ⓘ scientific progress ⓘ scientific theories ⓘ unobservable entities ⓘ |
| debatedIn |
epistemology
ⓘ
metaphysics ⓘ philosophy of science ⓘ |
| hasAspect |
epistemic realism
ⓘ
metaphysical realism ⓘ semantic realism ⓘ |
| hasComponentClaim |
scientific laws describe real patterns in nature
ⓘ
successful prediction is evidence for approximate truth ⓘ theoretical terms in science are truth-apt ⓘ |
| hasCoreClaim |
mature scientific theories are at least approximately true about unobservables
ⓘ
scientific progress is progress toward truth ⓘ scientific theories aim to give true descriptions of the world ⓘ the world exists independently of human minds ⓘ unobservable entities posited by successful theories exist ⓘ well-confirmed scientific theories are approximately true ⓘ |
| hasVariant |
entity realism
ⓘ
explanationist scientific realism ⓘ selective realism ⓘ structural realism ⓘ |
| opposedTo |
anti-realism about unobservables
ⓘ
constructive empiricism ⓘ instrumentalism ⓘ logical positivism NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| presupposes |
mind-independent reality
ⓘ
reference of theoretical terms to real entities ⓘ truth as correspondence to reality ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
empiricism
ⓘ
realism in metaphysics ⓘ scientific anti-realism ⓘ truthlikeness (verisimilitude) ⓘ |
| supportedByArgument | no-miracles argument NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.