TESE Wladimir

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

TESE Wladimir PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DE MINAS GERAIS Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito FUNDAMENTOS PARA UM DIREITO DAS POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS Wladimir Rodrigues Dias Belo Horizonte 2011 Wladimir Rodrigues Dias FUNDAMENTOS PARA UM DIREITO DAS POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS Tese apresentada ao Programa de Pós- Graduação em Direito da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, como requisito parcial para a obtenção do título de Doutor em Direito Público Orientador: Prof. Dr. Edimur Ferreira de Faria Belo Horizonte 2011 FICHA CATALOGRÁFICA Elaborada pela Biblioteca da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais Dias, Wladimir Rodrigues D541f Fundamentos para um direito das políticas públicas. / Wladimir Rodrigues Dias. Belo Horizonte, 2011. 355f. Orientador: Edimur Ferreira de Faria Tese (Doutorado) – Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito. 1. Direito Público. 2. Políticas Públicas. 3. Pragmatismo. 4. Estado de direito. 5. Brasil. I. Faria, Edimur Ferreira de. II. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito. III. Título. CDU: 342(81) Wladimir Rodrigues Dias Fundamentos para um direito das políticas públicas Trabalho apresentado ao Programa de Pós- Graduação em Direito da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, como requisito parcial para a obtenção do título de Doutor em Direito Público. _____________________________________________________________ Edmur Ferreira de Faria (Orientador) – PUC Minas _____________________________________________________________ José Alfredo de Oliveira Baracho Júnior – PUC Minas _____________________________________________________________ José Adércio Leite Sampaio – PUC Minas _____________________________________________________________ Luciano de Araújo Ferraz - UFMG _____________________________________________________________ Élcio Reis – Faculdade de Direito Milton Campos _____________________________________________________________ Giovani Clark – (suplente) – PUC Minas _____________________________________________________________ Marciano Seabra de Godói – (suplente) – PUC Minas Belo Horizonte, 29 de abril de 2011 RESUMO Este trabalho trata de fundamentos do direito das políticas públicas. Parte de uma constatação da presença da matéria no sistema jurídico, da experiência brasileira recente de manejo da juridicidade das políticas públicas, com os problemas a ela inerentes, e de certa insuficiência da teoria jurídica para lidar com essas questões, ainda que sejam crescentes os trabalhos científicos sobre o tema. A primeira parte do trabalho está concentrada em uma tarefa de fundamentação geral, que é ponto distintivo desta tese. Começa por discutir a questão epistemológica, assumindo como base o neopragmatismo filosófico, na versão de Richard Rorty. A assunção desse referencial impõe, na sequência, o desenvolvimento do tema sob bases sociológicas, com ênfase nas obras de Anthony Giddens, Niklas Luhmann e Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Os conceitos de modernidade reflexiva, sociedade de risco e modernidade líquida são, então, trabalhados, assim como a teoria dos sistemas e a perspectiva do direito como emancipação social. Também são discutidas, nessa parte, as relações entre Estado, direito e políticas públicas. Na sequência, são exploradas questões acerca do direito, tais como as noções de norma, juridicidade e decisão jurídica, assim como o problema dos princípios. Discute-se, ainda, o constitucionalismo sob o Estado Democrático de Direito, com destaque para a trajetória do direito administrativo, e a presença de um direito das políticas públicas sob o regime juspublicista. Trata-se, ao final, das políticas públicas no direito brasileiro, com referências a sua base constitucional, seu padrão de procedimentalização via legislação, planejamento, definição de recursos e concretização, bem como se discute a judicialização das políticas públicas, fenômeno que marca o direito brasileiro nas duas últimas décadas. Conclui-se pelo reconhecimento da juridicidade das políticas públicas no direito brasileiro, a demandar decisões dotadas de argumentação consistente, consoante o código específico do sistema jurídico, e legitimação em função de suas consequências, levando em consideração a complexidade de suas relações, sua macrojuridicidade, a gramática universalista que deve observar, e seu sentido em um contexto de democratização e pluralismo. Palavras-chave : Políticas públicas, sistema jurídico, pragmatismo jurídico, judicialização da política, macrojuridicidade. ABSTRACT This work deals with the foundations of the public policies law. Part of a verification of the matter of the juridical system, about the recent Brazilian experience of management of the public politics legality, with the problems connected with it, and also some insufficiency of the juridical theory to manage these questions, although the scientific works about the theme are growing up. The first part of the work focuses in one task about the general substantiation, that is the distinctive point of this thesis. It starts discussing the epistemological question, assuming as base the philosophical neopragmatism, in the version by Richard Rorty. The assumption of this referential imposes, in the sequence, the development of the theme based on sociology, with emphasis in the work made by Anthony Giddens, Niklas Luhmann and Boaventura de Sousa Santos. The concepts about reflexive modernity, risk society and liquid modernity are, then, treated, as the systems theory and the perspective of the rights like the social emancipation. Are also discussed, in this part, the relationship between the State, rights and public politics. In sequence, questions about the rights are explored, like notions of norms, legality and juridical decisions, as the principle problems. Discusses, therefore, the constitutionalism under the Democratic State of Rights, with emphasis on the trajectory about the administrative right, and in the presence of one public politics right under the juspublicist regime. In the end the public politics in Brazilian right are treated with the conditional base references , their proceduralization model by way of legislation, planning, defining resources and concretization, as well as making discussions about the public politics judicialization, phenomenon that mark the Brazilian rights in the last two decades. Recognizing the legality of the public politics in Brazilian rights we conclude, demanding decisions gifted of consistent argumentation, according the juridical system specific code, and legitmation in function of it consequences, considering the complexity of it relationships, it macrojuridicty, the universalistic grammar that needs to take notice, and it meaning in a context of democratization and pluralism. Keywords: Public Politics, juridical system, juridical pragmatism, judicialization of politics, macrojuridicity. SUMÁRIO 1. INTRODUÇÃO 1.1. Aspectos gerais do trabalho....................................................................... 07 1.2. Elementos para uma abordagem pragmatista do direito das políticas públicas................................................................................................................ 12 2. FUNDAMENTOS EPISTEMOLÓGICOS 2.1. O pragmatismo filosófico............................................................................ 16 2.2. Pragmatismo, direito e normatividade....................................................... 20 2.3. O conceito de paradigma aplicado ao direito............................................ 33 3. O DIREITO NA SOCIEDADE CONTEMPORÂNEA 3.1. Introdução..................................................................................................... 37 3.2. A sociedade moderna.................................................................................. 40 3.3. A modernidade reflexiva.............................................................................. 47 3.4. Individualismo, valores e o direito na modernidade................................. 51 3.5. Valores e normatividade social na modernidade líquida......................... 63 3.6. Normatividade e risco social....................................................................... 70 4. O SISTEMA JURÍDICO 4.1. Introdução..................................................................................................... 75 4.2. Sistemas sociais........................................................................................... 75 4.3. O direito como sistema................................................................................ 81 4.4. Código e função do direito.......................................................................... 83 4.5. A reprodução do sistema............................................................................ 86 4.6. Direito e política............................................................................................ 88 4.7. Direito, contingência e risco....................................................................... 91 5. DIREITO E EMANCIPAÇÃO SOCIAL 5.1. Emancipação e regulação no direito moderno......................................... 95 5.2. O direito na modernidade periférica......................................................... 100 5.3. Direito estatal e emancipação social........................................................ 120 6. ESTADO E POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS 6.1. Introdução................................................................................................... 123 6.2. O estado moderno.....................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • In Defence of Constructive Empiricism: Metaphysics Versus Science
    To appear in Journal for General Philosophy of Science (2004) In Defence of Constructive Empiricism: Metaphysics versus Science F.A. Muller Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Mathematics Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.000 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands E-mail: [email protected] August 2003 Summary Over the past years, in books and journals (this journal included), N. Maxwell launched a ferocious attack on B.C. van Fraassen's view of science called Con- structive Empiricism (CE). This attack has been totally ignored. Must we con- clude from this silence that no defence is possible against the attack and that a fortiori Maxwell has buried CE once and for all, or is the attack too obviously flawed as not to merit exposure? We believe that neither is the case and hope that a careful dissection of Maxwell's reasoning will make this clear. This dis- section includes an analysis of Maxwell's `aberrance-argument' (omnipresent in his many writings) for the contentious claim that science implicitly and per- manently accepts a substantial, metaphysical thesis about the universe. This claim generally has been ignored too, for more than a quarter of a century. Our con- clusions will be that, first, Maxwell's attacks on CE can be beaten off; secondly, his `aberrance-arguments' do not establish what Maxwell believes they estab- lish; but, thirdly, we can draw a number of valuable lessons from these attacks about the nature of science and of the libertarian nature of CE. Table of Contents on other side −! Contents 1 Exordium: What is Maxwell's Argument? 1 2 Does Science Implicitly Accept Metaphysics? 3 2.1 Aberrant Theories .
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Constructive Empiricism: Normative Or Descriptive?
    Constructive Empiricism: Normative or Descriptive? Moti Mizrahi Forthcoming in International Journal of Philosophical Studies Abstract: In this paper, I argue that Constructive Empiricism (CE) is ambiguous between two interpretations: CE as a normative epistemology of science and CE as a descriptive philosophy of science. When they present CE, constructive empiricists write as if CE is supposed to be more than a normative epistemology of science and that it is meant to be responsible to actual scientific practices. However, when they respond to objections, constructive empiricists fall back on a strictly normative interpretation of CE. This ambiguity seems to make CE immune to objections in a rather ad hoc fashion. Keywords: Bas van Fraassen; constructive empiricism; inference to the best explanation; observable; scientific realism; voluntarist epistemology 1. Introduction Roughly speaking, constructive Empiricism (CE) is the view that scientific theories “save the phenomena.” More precisely, as far as theories are concerned, constructive empiricists recommend suspending belief with respect to the existence of unobservable entities, events, or processes. As van Fraassen (1980, p. 12) puts it, CE is the view that “Science aims to give us theories that are empirically adequate; and acceptance of a theory involves as belief only that it is empirically adequate.” For van Fraassen (1980, p. 18), “to accept a theory is (for us) to believe 1 that it is empirically adequate—that what the theory says about what is observable (by us) is true.” CE is supposed to be an alternative to scientific realism. Usually, scientific realism is taken to include one or more of the following theses (Psillos 2006, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Constructive Empiricism in the Social Sciences
    Constructive empiricism in the social sciences Abstract ‘What problems face the aspirant empiricist today?’ is the question Bas C. van Fraassen asks in his seminal work The Scientific Image (1980). In this thesis, I interpret this question as a challenge to develop constructive empiricism [CE] in a field of scientific inquiry other than the context of physics in which it was conceived. The first part of the thesis expounds CE with reference to classical empiricism, discloses some of its fundamental assumptions, and spells out in detail its account of science. In the second part of the thesis, CE is extended to social science. Since CE was developed in the context of natural science, I take an articulation of the alleged fundamental differences between natural and social science as indicating challenges a CE-outlook on social science must address. I also provide a brief history of the gap between the sciences. Then, in the bulk of this thesis, I argue that CE’s model view accommodates social science, that description, prediction and explanation in the light of CE are proper fruits of inquiry in social science, and that CE is able to make sense of the differences in the concepts used in natural and social science. In the discussion of the feasibility of CE for social science, I show concurrently that contemporary articulations of the differences between the natural and the social sciences pose no insuperable problems for the constructive empiricist. Bram van Dijk | 3691454 History & Philosophy of Science | Utrecht University Daily supervisors | dr. Guido Bacciagaluppi & dr. Ruud Abma Third examiner | dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Realist and Anti-Realist Approaches in Philosophy of Science: Perspective and Representational Pluralism in Scientific Discovery
    Realist and Anti-Realist Approaches in Philosophy of Science: Perspective and Representational Pluralism in Scientific Discovery Mark Coleman Department of Philosophy School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts The University of Adelaide Submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy August 2016 Scientific Realism versus Anti-realism Mark Coleman 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Abstract 4 Thesis Declaration 5 Acknowledgements 6 Chapter 1 7 Scientific Realism versus Anti-Realism, an Introduction 7 Preamble 7 1.1 An overview of scientific realism 10 1.2 Anti-realism 12 1.3 Some realist responses 16 1.4 Variations and preliminary conclusions 18 Chapter 2 21 Anti-Realism: van Fraassen and His Critics 21 2.1 van Fraassen’s ‘arguments concerning scientific realism’ 21 2.1.1 van Fraassen’s account of realism 22 2.1.2 Constructive empiricism 23 2.1.3 van Fraassen on “The Theory/Observation ‘Dichotomy’” and the observable/unobservable distinction 26 2.1.4 van Fraassen on inference to the best explanation 28 2.2 Responses to van Fraassen 31 2.2.1 Observable versus unobservable 33 2.2.2 Churchland on observation, empirical adequacy and ontological commitment 36 2.2.3 van Fraassen, the microscope, and ‘public hallucinations’ 41 2.2.4 Underdetermination 43 2.2.5 Boyd’s defence of realism: underdetermination and the importance of theoretical induction 46 2.2.6 Ladyman and Ross, and Ellis on underdetermination 50 2.2.7 Epistemic virtues and theory evaluation: Churchland on beliefworthiness and the super-empirical virtues 52 2.3 Giere’s ‘modest’
    [Show full text]
  • Muller's Critique of the Argument for Aim-Oriented Empiricism
    Muller’s Critique of the Argument for Aim-Oriented Empiricism Nicholas Maxwell (Published in Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 40, No. 1, July 2009, pp. 103-114.) Abstract For over thirty years I have argued that we need to construe science as accepting a metaphysical proposition concerning the comprehensibility of the universe. In a recent paper, Fred Muller criticizes this argument, and its implication that Bas van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism is untenable. In the present paper I argue that Muller’s criticisms are not valid. The issue is of some importance, for my argument that science accepts a metaphysical proposition is the first step in a broader argument intended to demonstrate that we need to bring about a revolution in science, and ultimately in academic inquiry as a whole so that the basic aim becomes wisdom and not just knowledge. Keywords Standard Empiricism - Constructive Empiricism - Aim-Oriented Empiricism - Metaphysics - ad hoc theories - Scientific Realism - F. A. Muller - B. C. van Fraassen 1 Standard Empiricism and Its Refutation Some philosophers try to write in as simple and lucid a way as possible. Others do the opposite. I belong to the former category: I work very hard at trying to formulate what I have to say as simply as I can. Fred Muller belongs to the latter category. That, at least, is the impression one gains from a recent paper of his published in this journal: see Muller (2008). The paper criticizes some of my work, and sets out to defend Bas van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism against objections I have made to the view.
    [Show full text]
  • Constructive Empiricism and the Role of Social Values in Science Sherrilyn Roush
    Chapter 8 - Value-Free Science - Ideals and Illusions, edited by Harold Kincaid, John Dupré, and Alison Wylie. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007. Constructive Empiricism and the Role of Social Values in Science Sherrilyn Roush To accept a theory is to make a commitment, a commitment to the further confrontation of new phenomena within the framework of that theory . and a wager that all relevant phenomena can be accounted for without giving up that theory. Commitments are not true or false; they are vindicated or not vindicated in the course of human history. —Bas C. van Fraassen, The Scientific Image In her book Science as Social Knowledge, Helen Longino argued not only that social values are in fact ineliminable from theory choice in science but also that we ought to rewrite our ideals in such a way as to incorporate this fact. One of the most common criticisms one hears of this idea of granting a legitimate role for social values in theory choice in science is that it just doesn’t make sense to regard social preferences as relevant to the truth or to the way things are. “What is at issue,” wrote Susan Haack, is “whether it is possible to derive an ‘is’ from an ‘ought.’ ” One can see that this is not possible, she concludes, “as soon as one expresses it plainly: that propositions about what states of affairs are desirable or deplorable could be evidence that things are, or are not, so” (Haack 1993a, 35, emphasis in original). Haack does not provide an argument for the view that it is impossible to derive an is from an ought, but the intuition she expresses is strong and widespread.
    [Show full text]
  • Inference to the Best Explanation (Article)
    W.H. Newton-Smith (ed) A Companion to the Philosophy of Science (Blackwell, 2000) 184-193. Inference to the Best Explanation PETER LIPTON Science depends on judgments of the bearing of evidence on theory. Scientists must judge whether an observation or the result of an experiment supports, disconfirms, or is simply irrelevant to a given hypothesis. Similarly, scientists may judge that, given all the available evidence, a hypothesis ought to be accepted as correct or nearly so, rejected as false, or neither. Occasionally, these evidential judgements can be make on deductive grounds. If an experimental result strictly contradicts an hypothesis, then the truth of the evidence deductively entails the falsity of the hypothesis. In the great majority of cases, however, the connection between evidence and hypothesis is non-demonstrative or inductive. In particular, this is so whenever a general hypothesis is inferred to be correct on the basis of the available data, since the truth of the data will not deductively entail the truth of the hypothesis. It always remains possible that the hypothesis is false even though the data are correct. One of the central aims of the philosophy of science is to give a principled account of these judgements and inferences connecting evidence to theory. In the deductive case, this project is well-advanced, thanks to a productive stream of research into the structure of deductive argument that stretches back to antiquity. The same cannot be said for inductive inferences. Although some of the central problems were presented incisively by David HUME in the eighteenth century, our current understanding of inductive reasoning remains remarkably poor, in spite of the intense efforts of numerous epistemologists and philosophers of science.
    [Show full text]
  • CLMPS 2011 Volume of Abstracts
    CLMPS 2011 Volume of Abstracts Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science Congress Secretariat (Eds.) Volume of Abstracts CLMPS 2011 Special Topic Logic and Science Facing the New Technologies 14th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science Nancy, July 19–26, 2011 (France) Contents Editorial Notev Official Program2 I – Plenary Lectures3 II – Special Sessions7 Special Session 1.............................9 Special Session 2............................. 11 Special Session 3............................. 13 III – IUHPS – Joint Commission Symposium 15 IV – Ordinary Sessions 25 A. Logic...................................... 27 A1. Mathematical Logic........................ 29 A1. Invited Lectures..................... 29 A1. Contributed Papers.................. 34 A2. Philosophical Logic........................ 39 A2. Invited Lectures..................... 39 A2. Contributed Papers.................. 42 A2. Contributed Symposia................. 66 A3. Logic and Computation...................... 81 A3. Invited Lectures..................... 81 A3. Contributed Papers.................. 84 A3. Contributed Symposia................. 87 B. General Philosophy of Science....................... 91 B1. Methodology and Scientific Reasoning............. 93 B1. Invited Lectures..................... 93 B1. Contributed Papers................... 98 B1. Contributed Symposia................. 136 B2. Ethical Issues in the Philosophy of Science.......... 144 B2.
    [Show full text]
  • Constructive Empiricism: Observability and the Epistemic Community
    Aporia, Vol. HI, 1993 CONSTRUCTIVE EMPIRICISM: Observability, Instrumentation, and the Epistemic Community Angela D. Wentz Bas C. van Fraassen's 1980 pubUcation, The Scientific Image, plunged him and the constructive empiricism he advocates into the midst of a long standing debate about the nature of scientific theory. Through the vehicle of constructive empiricism (the word "constructive" emphasizing van Fraassen's view of science as a model building activity rather than a discovery process), van Fraassen applies anti-reaEsm to science,seeking to offer a strong and cogent response to scientific realism. Understanding corrstructive empiricism in this context, one must ask whether he is successful: Does van Fraassen's formulation of constructive empiricism offer a cogent response to scientific realism, a response strong enough to stand on its own merits? To explore this question, I will begin with a discussion of van Fraassen's formulation of constructive empiricism(CE), and contrast it with scientific realism (SR), showing how one may differentiate CE from SR's more well-known challengers, logical positivism and instrumentalism. Second, I will explore the difficulties that van Fraassen's formulation engenders with a special focus upon his view of observability. Third,I will propose a way in which these obstacles might be surmounted while retaining the basic principles of CE intact. To clarify the characteristics of CE,one should evaluate CE and SR side by side. To answer the question "What does the constructive empiricist believe?" we must concurrently ask, "What does the scientific realist believe?" It is important to begin by imderstanding which positions constructive empiricists and scientific realists have in common.
    [Show full text]
  • Should the Empiricist Be a Constructive Empiricist?
    1 Should the Empiricist be a Constructive Empiricist? Marc Alspector-Kelly† Department of Philosophy Western Michigan University ___________________________________________________________________________ 2 Abstract Van Fraassen does not argue that everyone should be a constructive empiricist. He claims only that constructive empiricism (CE) is a coherent post-positivist alternative to realism, notwithstanding the realist’s charge that CE is arbitrary and irrational. He does argue, however, that the empiricist is obliged to limit belief as CE prescribes. Criticism of CE has been largely directed at van Fraassen’s claim that CE is a coherent option. Far less attention has been directed at his claim that empiricists should be constructive empiricists. I consider his various attempts to support this claim, conclude that they are unsuccessful, and suggest that the empiricist who repudiates CE does not thereby abandon contemporary empiricism itself. 3 1. Introduction Before Bas van Fraassen presented his account of Constructive Empiricism (CE hereafter), the only significant empiricist contender to scientific realism seemed to be logical positivism.1 Since positivism had, as van Fraassen puts it, a “rather spectacular crash,” the realist seemed to be in the enviable position of having as a contender a philosophical orientation whose shortcomings as an account of science were obvious. Unfortunately for the realist, van Fraassen cheerfully endorses the standard objections to positivism and proceeds to describe a form of empiricist anti-realism that appears to be untouched by those objections.2 Van Fraassen’s arguments are, as a result, not so much directed at showing that realism is not a tenable philosophy of science as at demonstrating that CE is.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scientific Instrument: the Case for Constructive Empiricism Over Scientific Realism
    H-SC Journal of Sciences (2014) Vol. III Schlaak The Scientific Instrument: The Case for Constructive Empiricism over Scientific Realism Dylan S. Schlaak ‘14 Department of Philosophy, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA 23943 Instrumentalism is the best way to explain how science works. Although many career scientists tend to identify themselves as scientific realists, they fail to see the pitfalls of this metaphysical commitment. Karl Popper tried to solve these problems, but his account of how science works is ultimately unsatisfactory, and his arguments against instrumentalism are unconvincing. Instrumentalists themselves hold a wide variety of beliefs, but one of the most salient instrumentalist positions comes from Bas van Fraassen with his emphasis on an agnostic attitude toward theoretical entities and his pragmatic approach which he labeled constructive empiricism. This modern theory of scientific instrumentalism, with some minor adjustments, is robust enough to withstand the criticisms that plague the realists, and explanatory enough to reflect how science is actually done, which mirrors how it is taught in the classroom. Modern scientists may claim that they are realists, but they ought to realize that a more defensible and efficacious position for them to take is that of scientific instrumentalism. The Logical Dilemma of Science logically follows from the premises, and inductive reasoning allows us to form arguments that support Scientific disciplines are in many ways the conclusion, but do not guarantee it. The problem distinct from their counterparts in the humanities. For of induction has to do with how we should go about one thing, it can be said of science that it is, and has proving that inductive logic is reliable.
    [Show full text]
  • Formulational Vs. Epistemological Debates Concerning Scientific Realism
    Formulational vs. Epistemological Debates Concerning Scientific Realism Park, Seungbae (2020). “Formulational vs. Epistemological Debates Concerning Scientific Realism”, Dialogue (to be determined). Seungbae Park Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology The Republic of Korea https://philpeople.org/profiles/seungbae-park ABSTRACT: A formulational debate is a debate over whether certain definitions of scientific realism and antirealism are useful or useless. By contrast, an epistemological debate is a debate over whether we have sufficient evidence for scientific realism and antirealism defined in a certain manner. I argue that Hilary Putnam’s definitions of scientific realism and antirealism are more useful than Bas van Fraassen’s definitions of scientific realism and constructive empiricism because Putnam’s definitions can generate both formulational and epistemological debates, whereas van Fraassen’s can generate only formulational debates. Keywords: acceptance, aim, belief, epistemological, formulational, Putnam, van Fraassen 1. Introduction There are diverse definitions of scientific realism and antirealism in the literature. This paper argues that Hilary Putnam’s (1975: 73) definitions of scientific realism and antirealism are more useful than Bas van Fraassen’s (1980: 8–12) definitions of scientific realism and constructive empiricism. Why is it important to adjudicate between Putnam’s and van Fraassen’s definitions? Realists and antirealists would engage in different debates, depending on which definitions they choose as the framework for their debates. Moreover, the adjudication would yield useful information about how to define scientific realism and antirealism in order to generate voluminous debates about science. In Section 2, I specify the distinction between formulational and epistemological debates, and then show that Putnam’s definitions can generate both formulational and epistemological debates.
    [Show full text]