Search results for "Scientific realism"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Relativism and Realism in the Philosophy of Science
2020
The philosophy of science is an important field of philosophy, where relativism and realism meet. The philosophy of science studies the nature of scientific knowledge, general justifications and scientific activity. Many of the things I have discussed in the previous chapters are also relevant for the philosophy of science. Scientific realism has been one of the most significant movements in the philosophy of science. However, its problems have paved the way for perspectivism, according to which perspectives (points of view) are a part of all scientific activity, from observations to theoretical assumptions. I will show that scientific realism could not be defended using a Tarskian semantic…
How (Not) to Write the History of Pragmatist Philosophy of Science?
2008
This survey article discusses the pragmatist tradition in twentieth century philosophy of science. Pragmatism, originating with Charles Peirce's writings on the pragmatic maxim in the 1870s, is a background both for scientific realism and, via the views of William James and John Dewey, for the relativist and/or constructivist forms of neopragmatism that have often been seen as challenging the very ideas of scientific rationality and objectivity. The paper shows how the issue of realism arises in pragmatist philosophy of science and how some pragmatists, classical and modern, have attempted to deal with it. Various dimensions of the realism dispute are thus discussed, especially realism as c…
Pragmatist Perspectives on Theological and Religious Realism
2014
This essay first applies the general issue of realism vs. antirealism to theology and the philosophy of religion, distinguishing between several different ‘levels’ of the realism dispute in this context. A pragmatic approach to the problem of realism regarding religion and theology is sketched and tentatively defended. The similarities and differences of scientific realism, on the one hand, and religious and/or theological realism, on the other hand, are thereby also illuminated. The concept of recognition is shown to be crucially relevant to the issue of realism especially in its pragmatist articulation.