From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism: On Some Relations between Confirmation, Empirical Progress, and Truth Approximation

by Theo A.F. Kuipers

Overview

Surprisingly, modified versions of the confirmation theory (Carnap and Hempel) and truth approximation theory (Popper) turn out to be smoothly sythesizable. The glue between the two appears to be the instrumentalist methodology, rather than that of the falsificationalist.
The instrumentalist methodology, used in the separate, comparative evaluation of theories in terms of their successes and problems (hence, even if already falsified), provides in theory and practice the straight road to short-term empirical progress in science ( à la Laudan). It is also argued that such progress is also functional for all kinds of truth approximation: observational, referential, and theoretical. This sheds new light on the long-term dynamics of science and hence on the relation between the main epistemological positions, viz., instrumentalism (Toulmin, Laudan), constructive empiricism (Van Fraassen), referential realism (Hacking, Cartwright), and theory realism of a non-essentialist nature (constructive realism à la Popper).
Readership: Open minded philosophers and scientists. The book explains and justifies the scientist's intuition that the debate among philosophers about instrumentalism and realism has almost no practical consequences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789048153695
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	12/03/2010
Series:	Synthese Library , #287
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2000
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Professor Theo Kuipers is the author of From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism (Synthese Library 287, 2000). He is the leader of the Groningen Research Group ‘Cognitive Structures in Knowledge and Knowledge Development', which gained the highest possible scores in two successive assessments of Dutch philosophical research by international committees.

Table of Contents

1: General Introduction: Epistemological Positions.- I: Confirmation.- 2: Confirmation by the Hd-Method.- 3: Quantitative Confirmation, and Its Qualitative Consequences.- 4: Inductive Confirmation and Inductive Logic.- II: Empirical Progress.- 5: Separate Evaluation of Theories by the Hd-Method.- 6: Empirical Progress and Pseudoscience.- III: Basic Truth Approximation.- 7. Truthlikeness and Truth Approximation.- 8: Intuitions of Scientists and Philosophers.- 9: Epistemological Stratification of Nomic Truth Approximation.- IV: Refined Truth Approximation.- 10: Refinement of Nomic Truth Approximation.- 11: Examples of Potential Truth Approximation.- 12: Quantitative Truthlikeness and Truth Approximation.- 13: Conclusion: Constructive Realism.- Notes.- References.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.