Contemporary Issues Concerning Scientific Realism
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@)"'*"'O' See Fiont Matter 0039-3681/00$
Stud.Hist. Phil. Sci.,Vol. 31, No. I, pp. l5l-112,20o0 @ 20fi) Elsevier ScienceLtd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain @)"'*"'o' see fiont matter www.elswier.com/locate/shpsa 0039-3681/00$ - Rudolf Carnap's oTheoreticalConcepts in Sciencet Stathis Psillos* 1. Editor's Introduction Rudolf Camapdelivered the hitherto unpublishedlecture 'TheoreticalConcepts in Science' at the meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, at SantaBarbarg Califomia, on 29 December1959. It was part of a symposiumon 'Camap'sviews on TheoreticalConcepts in Science'.In the bibli- ographythat appearsin the end of the volume, 'The Philosophyof Rudolf Camap', edited by Faul Arthur Schilpp, a revised version of this addressappears to be amongCamap's forthcoming papers.But although Camap startedto revise it, he never finisfusdthe revision,r and never publishedthe unrevisedtranscript. Perhaps this is becausevariants of the approachto theoreticalconcepts presented for the first time in the SantaBarbara lecture have appearedin other papersof his (cf. the editorial footnotesin Carnap'slecture). Still, I thinlq the SantaBarbara address is a little philosophical gem that needsto see the light of day. The documentthat follows is the unrevisedtanscript of Carnap's lecture.2lts style, then, is tbat of an oral presentation.I decidedto leave it as it is, making only very minor stylistic chonges-which, exceptthose related to punctuation,are indicatedby curly brack- ets.3I think that reading this lecture is a rewarding experience,punctuated as the lechne is with odd remarksand autobiographicalpoints. One can alnost envisage I Department of Philosophy and History of Science, University of Athens, Athens, Greece Received 28 Apil 1998; in revkedform I September 1998. -
Philosophy of Science Reading List
Philosophy of Science Area Comprehensive Exam Reading List Revised September 2011 Exam Format: Students will have four hours to write answers to four questions, chosen from a list of approximately 20-30 questions organized according to topic: I. General Philosophy of Science II. History of Philosophy of Science III. Special Topics a. Philosophy of Physics b. Philosophy of Biology c. Philosophy of Mind / Cognitive Science d. Logic and Foundations of Mathematics Students are required to answer a total of three questions from sections I and II (at least one from each section), and one question from section III. For each section, we have provided a list of core readings—mostly journal articles and book chapters—that are representative of the material with which we expect you to be familiar. Many of these readings will already be familiar to you from your coursework and other reading. Use this as a guide to filling in areas in which you are less well- prepared. Please note, however, that these readings do not constitute necessary or sufficient background to pass the comp. The Philosophy of Science area committee assumes that anyone who plans to write this exam has a good general background in the area acquired through previous coursework and independent reading. Some anthologies There are several good anthologies of Philosophy of Science that will be useful for further background (many of the articles listed below are anthologized; references included in the list below). Richard Boyd, Philip Gasper, and J.D. Trout, eds., The Philosophy of Science (MIT Press, 991). Martin Curd and J. -
Conversations with Alan Musgrave
Rationality and Reality STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE VOLUME 20 General Editor: S. GAUKROGER, University of Sydney Editorial Advisory Board: RACHEL ANKENY, University of Sydney STEVEN FRENCH, University of Leeds DAVID PAPINEAU, King’ s College London NICHOLAS RASMUSSEN, University of New South Wales JOHN SCHUSTER, University of New South Wales RICHARD YEO, Griffith University RATIONALITY AND REALITY Conversations with Alan Musgrave Edited by COLIN CHEYNE University of Otago, DDunedin, New Zealand and JOHN WORRALL London School of Economics, London, UK A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-10 1-4020-4206-X (HB) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4206-X (HB) ISBN-10 1-4020-4207-8 (e-book) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4207-8 (e-book) Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. www.springer.com Cover: Photograph of Alan Musgrave used with kind permission of Gudrun Perin, Guelph, Canada Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved © 2006 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed in the Netherlands. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii Notes on Contributors ix COLIN CHEYNE / Introduction 1 GREGORY CURRIE / Where Does the Burden of Theory Lie? 7 COLIN CHEYNE / Testimony, Induction and Reasonable Belief 19 JOHN WORRALL / Theory-Confirmation and History 31 DEBORAH G. -
Contemporary Issues Concerning Scientific Realism
The Future of the Scientific Realism Debate: Contemporary Issues Concerning Scientific Realism Author(s): Curtis Forbes Source: Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2018) 1-11. Published by: The University of Toronto DOI: 10.4245/sponge.v9i1. EDITORIALOFFICES Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Room 316 Victoria College, 91 Charles Street West Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1K7 [email protected] Published online at jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/SpontaneousGenerations ISSN 1913 0465 Founded in 2006, Spontaneous Generations is an online academic journal published by graduate students at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto. There is no subscription or membership fee. Spontaneous Generations provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The Future of the Scientific Realism Debate: Contemporary Issues Concerning Scientific Realism Curtis Forbes* I. Introduction “Philosophy,” Plato’s Socrates said, “begins in wonder” (Theaetetus, 155d). Two and a half millennia later, Alfred North Whitehead saw fit to add: “And, at the end, when philosophical thought has done its best, the wonder remains” (1938, 168). Nevertheless, we tend to no longer wonder about many questions that would have stumped (if not vexed) the ancients: “Why does water expand when it freezes?” “How can one substance change into another?” “What allows the sun to continue to shine so brightly, day after day, while all other sources of light and warmth exhaust their fuel sources at a rate in proportion to their brilliance?” Whitehead’s addendum to Plato was not wrong, however, in the sense that we derive our answers to such questions from the theories, models, and methods of modern science, not the systems, speculations, and arguments of modern philosophy. -
David Rivett
DAVID RIVETT: FIGHTER FOR AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OTHER WORKS OF ROHAN RIVETT Behind Bamboo. 1946 Three Cricket Booklets. 1948-52 The Community and the Migrant. 1957 Australian Citizen: Herbert Brookes 1867-1963. 1966 Australia (The Oxford Modern World Series). 1968 Writing About Australia. 1970 This page intentionally left blank David Rivett as painted by Max Meldrum. This portrait hangs at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's headquarters in Canberra. ROHAN RIVETT David Rivett: FIGHTER FOR AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE RIVETT First published 1972 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission © Rohan Rivett, 1972 Printed in Australia at The Dominion Press, North Blackburn, Victoria Registered in Australia for transmission by post as a book Contents Foreword Vll Acknowledgments Xl The Attack 1 Carving the Path 15 Australian at Edwardian Oxford 28 1912 to 1925 54 Launching C.S.I.R. for Australia 81 Interludes Without Playtime 120 The Thirties 126 Through the War-And Afterwards 172 Index 219 v This page intentionally left blank Foreword By Baron Casey of Berwick and of the City of Westminster K.G., P.C., G.C.M.G., C.H., D.S.a., M.C., M.A., F.A.A. The framework and content of David Rivett's life, unusual though it was, can be briefly stated as it was dominated by some simple and most unusual principles. He and I met frequently in the early 1930's and discussed what we were both aiming to do in our respective fields. He was a man of the most rigid integrity and way of life. -
Regularity Theories
Regularity Theories Oxford Handbooks Online Regularity Theories Stathis Psillos The Oxford Handbook of Causation Edited by Helen Beebee, Christopher Hitchcock, and Peter Menzies Print Publication Date: Nov 2009 Subject: Philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science Online Publication Date: Jan 2010 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199279739.003.0008 Abstract and Keywords This article articulates Regularity View of Causation (RVC) with an eye to two things: first, its conceptual development; second, its basic commitments and implications for what causation is. The article has chosen to present RVC in a way that respects its historical origins and unravels the steps of its articulation in the face of objections and criticism. It is important for the explication and defence of RVC to see it as a view of causation that emerged in a certain intellectual milieu. RVC has been developed as an attempt to remove efficiency from causation and hence, to view causation not as a productive relation but as a relation of dependence among discrete events. In particular, the thought that causation is regularity is meant to oppose metaphysical views of causation that posit powers or other kinds of entity that are supposed to enforce the regularities that there are in the world or to explain the alleged necessity that there is in causation. Keywords: Regularity View of Causation, causation, dependence, regularities, metaphysics, regularity theories 1. Introduction David Hume has made available a view of causation as it is in the world that can be called the Regularity View of Causation (RVC). His famous first definition runs thus: ‘We may define a CAUSE to be “An object precedent and contiguous to another, and where all the objects resembling the former are plac'd in like relations of precedency and contiguity to those objects, that resemble the latter” ([1739] 1978: 170). -
Uma Breve História Da Geometria Molecular Sob a Perspectiva Didático-Epistemológica De Guy Brousseau
Uma Breve História da Geometria Molecular sob a Perspectiva Didático-Epistemológica de Guy Brousseau Kleyfton Soares da Silva Laerte Silva da Fonseca Johnnatan Duarte de Freitas RESUMO O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar a evolução histórica da Geometria Molecular (GM), de modo a apresentar discussões, limitações, dificuldades e avanços associados à concepção do saber em jogo e, através disso, contribuir com elementos para análise crítica da organização didática em livros e sequências de ensino. Foi realizado um levantamento histórico na perspectiva epistemológica defendida por Brousseau (1983), em que a compreensão da evolução conceitual do conteúdo visado pelo estudo é alcançada quando há o entrelaçamento de fatos que ajudam a identificar obstáculos que limitaram e/ou limitam a aprendizagem de um dado conteúdo. Trata-se de uma abordagem inédita tanto pelo direcionamento do conteúdo como pela metodologia adotada. A análise histórica permitiu traçar um conjunto de oito obstáculos que por um lado estagnou a evolução do conceito de GM e por outro impulsionou cientistas a buscarem alternativas teóricas e metodológicas para resolver os problemas que foram surgindo ao longo do tempo. O estudo mostrou que a questão da visualização em química e da necessidade de manipulação física de modelos moleculares é constitutiva da própria evolução história da GM. Esse ponto amplifica a necessidade de superação contínua dos obstáculos epistemológicos e cognitivos associados às representações moleculares. Palavras-chave: Análise Epistemológica. Geometria -
Fritz Arndt and His Chemistry Books in the Turkish Language
42 Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 28, Number 1 (2003) FRITZ ARNDT AND HIS CHEMISTRY BOOKS IN THE TURKISH LANGUAGE Lâle Aka Burk, Smith College Fritz Georg Arndt (1885-1969) possibly is best recog- his “other great love, and Brahms unquestionably his nized for his contributions to synthetic methodology. favorite composer (5).” The Arndt-Eistert synthesis, a well-known reaction in After graduating from the Matthias-Claudius Gym- organic chemistry included in many textbooks has been nasium in Wansbek in greater Hamburg, Arndt began used over the years by numerous chemists to prepare his university education in 1903 at the University of carboxylic acids from their lower homologues (1). Per- Geneva, where he studied chemistry and French. Fol- haps less well recognized is Arndt’s pioneering work in lowing the practice at the time of attending several in- the development of resonance theory (2). Arndt also stitutions, he went from Geneva to Freiburg, where he contributed greatly to chemistry in Turkey, where he studied with Ludwig Gattermann and completed his played a leadership role in the modernization of the sci- doctoral examinations. He spent a semester in Berlin ence (3). A detailed commemorative article by W. Walter attending lectures by Emil Fischer and Walther Nernst, and B. Eistert on Arndt’s life and works was published then returned to Freiburg and worked with Johann in German in 1975 (4). Other sources in English on Howitz and received his doctorate, summa cum laude, Fritz Arndt and his contributions to chemistry, specifi- in 1908. Arndt remained for a time in Freiburg as a cally discussions of his work in Turkey, are limited. -
Poincare Conventions Relations
Conventions and Relations in Poincaré’s Philosophy of Science ∗∗∗ Stathis Psillos Dept of Philosophy and History of Science University of Athens, Greece & Rotman Institute of Philosophy & Dept of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, Canada e-mail: [email protected] 1. Introduction Henri Poincare’s La Science et l’ Hypothése was translated into English in 1905. One of the first reviews—published already in 1905—was by Bertrand Russell. After praising Poincaré for his “power of co-ordinating the whole domain of mathematics and physics in a single system of ideas” (1905, 412), Russell—in this short by pointed review—put forward the two main interpretations of Poincaré’s thought that subsequently became standard. Poincaré was a conventionalist and a structuralist. According to Russell, Poincaré argued that geometry is wholly conventional and that the principles of mechanics are definitions. He rather quickly dismissed this view by taking the line that conventions are merely hypotheses which have been willingly withdrawn from empirical testing and claimed that they were not really necessary qua a different epistemic category. 1 Interestingly, he spent more time explaining that for Poincaré “science teaches us, not about things in themselves, but about their relations” (1905, 412). As Russell understood Poincaré’s main thesis, “if a really exists, a statement about a has no meaning unless it asserts a relation to a b which also really exists” (1905, 417). His prime disagreement with Poincaré was that he took that statements about qualities of real things are not devoid of meaning but simply unknowable. But apart from that, Russell endorsed this relationist reading of Poincaré and made two important points. -
David Papineau
1 The Problem of Consciousness David Papineau Forthcoming in The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Consciousness ed Uriah Kriegel Introduction Consciousness raises a range of philosophical questions. We can distinguish between the How? , Where? , and What? questions. First, how does consciousness relate to other features of reality? Second, where are conscious phenomena located in reality? And, third, what is the nature of consciousness? In line with much philosophical writing over the past fifty years, this chapter will focus mostly on the How? question. Towards the end I shall also say some things about the Where? question. As for the What? question, a few brief introductory remarks will have to suffice. This is not to deny that the What? question raises a range of philosophically interesting issues. There is much to ask about the nature of consciousness. Must conscious states always involve some reflective awareness of themselves? Do all conscious states have an intentional content? Must consciousness always be consciousness for some subject, and if so for what kind of subject? In what sense, if any, are the conscious experiences of a subject at a given time always unified into some whole? However, in order to keep my task manageable, I shall leave issues like these for the essays that follow in this volume. For my purposes, it will be enough if we simply characterize consciousness in the normal way, as states that are “like something” for the subjects that have them. If examples are wanted, simply reflect on the difference between having your eyes open, and enjoying a range of conscious visual experiences, and closing your eyes and eliminating those conscious experiences. -
Hilary Putnam and Immanuel Kant: Two ‘Internal Realists’?
DERMOT MORAN HILARY PUTNAM AND IMMANUEL KANT: TWO ‘INTERNAL REALISTS’? ABSTRACT. Since 1976 Hilary Putnam has drawn parallels between his ‘internal’, ‘prag- matic’, ‘natural’ or ‘common-sense’ realism and Kant’s transcendental idealism. Putnam reads Kant as rejecting the then current metaphysical picture with its in-built assumptions of a unique, mind-independent world, and truth understood as correspondence between the mind and that ready-made world. Putnam reads Kant as overcoming the false dichotomies inherent in that picture and even finds some glimmerings of conceptual relativity in Kant’s proposed solution. Furthermore, Putnam reads Kant as overcoming the pernicious scientific realist distinction between primary and secondary qualities, between things that really exist and their projections, a distinction that haunts modern philosophy. Putnam’s revitalisation of Kant is not just of historical interest, but challenges contemporary versions of scientific realism. Furthermore, Putnam has highlighted themes which have not received the attention they deserve in Kantian exegesis, namely, the problematic role of primary and secondary qualities in Kant’s empirical realism, and the extent of Kant’s commitment to conceptual pluralism. However, I argue that Putnam’s qualified allegiance to Kant exposes him to some of the same metaphysical problems that affected Kant, namely, the familiar problem of postulating an absolute reality (Ding an sich), while at the same time disavowing the meaningfulness of so doing. In conclusion I suggest that Putnam might consider Hegel’s attempts to solve this problem in Kant as a way of furthering his own natural realism. 1. INTRODUCTION: PUTNAM AND KANT Putnam’s central focus since 1976 has been an attempt to articulate a kind of realism which does not end up either falsifying the world, through a false extrapolation from the results of science, or losing it entirely in scepticism and relativism. -
Panpsychism, Priority Cosmopsychism and Information
Fundamental Consciousness: Panpsychism, Priority Cosmopsychism and Information By Nino Kadić Submitted to Central European University Department of Philosophy In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Philosophy Supervisor: Philip A. Goff Budapest, Hungary CEU eTD Collection 2016 Abstract In this thesis, I argue that consciousness cannot be explained solely in terms of the facts revealed to us by empirical science. This is explained through a discussion of the explanatory gap between our knowledge of physical facts and those regarding consciousness. Specifically, I argue against the Phenomenal Concept Strategy, a fairly recent approach to answering anti-physicalist arguments. I then claim that if we take consciousness as something that cannot be explained in purely physical terms, we must also say that it is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality. I explain the motivation for accepting this claim by considering what it means for something to be an intrinsic nature and by addressing the problem of strong emergence. The result of these considerations is panpsychism, the theory that consciousness truly is fundamental and ubiquitous. After that, I introduce the combination problem, the issue of how small subjects combine into bigger subjects. Priority cosmopsychism is then offered as a possible way of avoiding the combination problem. I then argue against priority cosmopsychism, claiming instead that we should remain panpsychists. I then move on to suggest a solution to the combination problem based on a discussion of syntactic and semantic information. I argue that information can be used to explain how small subjects bond to form bigger subjects. The final result is an informational form of panpsychism.