Naturalism Without Scientism
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Curriculum Vitae
BAS C. VAN FRAASSEN Curriculum Vitae Last updated 3/6/2019 I. Personal and Academic History .................................................................................................................... 1 List of Degrees Earned ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Title of Ph.D. Thesis ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 Positions held ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Invited lectures and lecture series ........................................................................................................................................ 1 List of Honors, Prizes ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Research Grants .................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Non-Academic Publications ................................................................................................................................................ 5 II. Professional Activities ................................................................................................................................. -
VU Research Portal
VU Research Portal Realism, Instrumentalism, and Scientific Symbiosis: Psychological Theory as a search for truth and the discovery of solutions Cacioppo, J.T.; Semin, G.R.; Berntson, G.G. published in American Psychologist 2004 DOI (link to publisher) 10.1037/0003-066X.59.4.214 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Cacioppo, J. T., Semin, G. R., & Berntson, G. G. (2004). Realism, Instrumentalism, and Scientific Symbiosis: Psychological Theory as a search for truth and the discovery of solutions. American Psychologist, 59, 214-233. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.4.214 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 03. Oct. 2021 Realism, Instrumentalism, and Scientific Symbiosis Psychological Theory as a Search for Truth and the Discovery of Solutions John T. -
Realism and Instrumentalism in Philosophical Explanation
Simchen, O. 2019. Realism and Instrumentalism in Philosophical Explanation. Metaphysics, 2(1), pp. 1–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/met.20 RESEARCH Realism and Instrumentalism in Philosophical Explanation Ori Simchen University of British Columbia, CA [email protected] There is a salient contrast in how theoretical representations are regarded. Some are regarded as revealing the nature of what they represent, as in familiar cases of theoretical identification in physical chemistry where water is represented as hydrogen hydroxide and gold is represented as the element with atomic number 79. Other theoretical representations are regarded as serving other explanatory aims without being taken individually to reveal the nature of what they represent, as in the representation of gold as a standard for pre-20th century monetary systems in economics or the representation of the meaning of an English sentence as a function from possible worlds to truth values in truth-conditional semantics. Call the first attitude towards a theoretical representation realist and the second attitude instrumentalist. Philosophical explanation purports to reveal the nature of whatever falls within its purview, so it would appear that a realist attitude towards its representations is a natural default. I offer reasons for skepticism about such default realism that emerge from attending to several case studies of philosophical explanation and drawing a general metaphilosophical moral from the foregoing discussion. Keywords: realism; instrumentalism; philosophical explanation; philosophical methodology 1 Introduction Any theoretical endeavour employs representations and philosophy is no exception. A representation for present purposes is a theoretical apparatus that stands for some subject matter within a purported explana- tion. -
Charles Taylor and George Grant on the Problem of Instrumentalism: Expressivism and Justice As Alternative Ontologies
CHARLES TAYLOR AND GEORGE GRANT ON THE PROBLEM OF INSTRUMENTALISM: EXPRESSIVISM AND JUSTICE AS ALTERNATIVE ONTOLOGIES Carlos Colorado Bachelor of Arts, Simon Fraser University, 2001 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS Under Special Arrangements in the Faculty of Arts O Carlos Colorado 2004 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 2004 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Carlos Colorado Degree: Master of Arts Charles Taylor and George Grant on the Problem of Title of Thesis: Instrumentalism: Expressivism and Justice as Alternative Ontologies Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Jonathan C. Driver Dean of Graduate Studies Dr. Ian Angus Senior Supervisor Professor Department of Humanities Dr. David Laycock Supervisor Professor Department of Political Science Dr. Samuel LaSelva External Examiner Professor Department of Political Science University of British Columbia Date Approved: &b! 208~ Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. -
VU Research Portal
VU Research Portal Science and Scientism in Popular Science Writing de Ridder, G.J. published in Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 2014 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) de Ridder, G. J. (2014). Science and Scientism in Popular Science Writing. Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, 3(12), 23-39. http://wp.me/p1Bfg0-1KE General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, 2014 Vol. 3, No. 12, 23-39. http://wp.me/p1Bfg0-1KE Science and Scientism in Popular Science Writing Jeroen de Ridder, VU University Amsterdam Abstract If one is to believe recent popular scientific accounts of developments in physics, biology, neuroscience, and cognitive science, most of the perennial philosophical questions have been wrested from the hands of philosophers by now, only to be resolved (or sometimes dissolved) by contemporary science. -
2 Tracing the Development of Structural Realism
1 2 TRACING THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRUCTURAL REALISM Ioannis Votsis 1. Introduction This chapter traces the development of structural realism within the scientific realism debate and the wider current of structuralism that has swept the philosophy of the natural sciences in the twentieth century. 1 The primary aim is to make perspicuous the many manifestations of structural realism and their underlying claims. Among other things, I will compare structural realism’s various manifestations in order to throw more light onto the relations between them. At the end of the chapter, I will identify the main objections raised against the epistemic form of structural realism. This last task will pave the way for the evaluation of the structural realist answer to the main epistemological question, an evaluation that will be central to the rest of this dissertation. Generally construed, structuralism is a point of view that emphasises the importance of relations. It takes the structure, i.e. the nexus of relations, of a given domain of interest to be the foremost goal of research and holds that an understanding of the subject matter has to be, and most successfully is, achieved in structural terms. The following quote from Redhead (2001a) nicely conveys this intuition: “Informally a structure is a system of related elements, and structuralism is a point of view which focuses attention on the relations between the elements as distinct from the elements themselves”(74). This vision has shaped research programmes in fields as diverse as mathematics, linguistics, literary criticism, aesthetics, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy of science. It is the last-mentioned that I am concerned with in this chapter. -
Models, Perspectives, and Scientific Realism
MODELS, PERSPECTIVES, AND SCIENTIFIC REALISM: ON RONALD GIERE'S PERSPECTIVAL REALISM A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Brian R. Huth May, 2014 Thesis written by Brian R. Huth B.A., Kent State University 2012 M.A., Kent State University 2014 Approved by Frank X. Ryan, Advisor Linda Williams, Chair, Department of Philosophy James L. Blank, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................. iv INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. FROM THE RECEIVED VIEW TO THE MODEL-THEORETIC VIEW........................................................................................................... 7 Section 1.1.................................................................................................... 9 Section 1.2.................................................................................................... 16 II. RONALD GIERE'S CONSTRUCTIVISM AND PERSPECTIVAL REALISM.................................................................................................... 25 Section 2.1.................................................................................................... 25 Section 2.2.................................................................................................... 31 Section 2.3................................................................................................... -
The Pragmatics of Explanation: Remarks on Van Fraassen's Theory of Why-Questions1
The Pragmatics of explanation: Remarks on van Fraassen’s theory of why-questions1 A Pragmática da explicação: Comentários sobre a teoria das questões-por-quê de van Fraassen Renato Cesar Cani Universidade Federal do Paraná – UFPR/CAPES – Brasil [email protected] Abstract: In this article, my aim is to analyze Bas van Fraassen’s pragmatic solution to two of the traditional problems concerning scientific explanation, namely, rejection and asymmetry. According to his view, an explanation is an answer to some request for information. The emergence of a question, as well as the evaluation of the explanations adduced, depends on considerations about contextual factors. In addition, I will evaluate the pertinence of objections raised by Philip Kitcher and Wesley Salmon against van Fraassen’s account. I will argue that their charge is not sound, for it actually misunderstands the role played by context in van Fraassen’s account. Although Salmon’s and Kitcher’s realist commitments motivate the point made by them, I will hold that a pragmatic account of explanation does not commit one to an anti-realist approach to science. Keywords: Pragmatics of Explanation. Bas van Fraassen. Why-questions. Asymmetry. Realism. Resumo: Neste artigo, meu objetivo é analisar a solução pragmática oferecida por Bas van Fraassen a dois dos tradicionais problemas da explicação científica, quais sejam, o da rejeição e o da assimetria. Em sua visão, uma explicação é uma resposta a alguma demanda por informação. O surgimento de uma questão, bem como a avaliação das possíveis explicações, depende de fatores contextuais. Além disso, avaliarei a pertinência das objeções de Philip Kitcher e Wesley Salmon contra a concepção de van Fraassen. -
Intentional Systems in Cognitive Ethology: the "Panglossian Paradigm" Defended
THE BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (1983) 6, 343-390 Printed in the United States of America Intentional systems in cognitive ethology: The "Panglossian paradigm" defended Daniel C. Dennett Department of Philosophy, Tufts University, Medford, Mass. 02155 Abstract: Ethologists and others studying animal behavior in a "cognitive" spirit are in need of a descriptive language and method that are neither anachronistically bound by behaviorist scruples nor prematurely committed to particular "information-processing models. "Just such an interim descriptive method can be found in intentional system theory. The use of intentional system theory is illustrated with the case of the apparently communicative behavior of vervet monkeys. A way of using the theory to generate data - including usable, testable "anecdotal" data - is sketched. The underlying assumptions of this approach can be seen to ally it directly with "adaptationist' theorizing in evolutionary biology, which has recently come under attack from Stephen Gould and Richard Lewontin, who castigate it as the "Panglossian paradigm." Their arguments, which are strongly analogous to B. F. Skinner's arguments against "mentalism," point to certain pitfalls that attend the careless exercise of such "Panglossian" thinking (and rival varieties of thinking as well), but do not constitute a fundamental objection to either adaptationist theorizing or its cousin, intentional system theory. Keywords: adaptation; animal cognition; behaviorism; cognitive ethology; communication; comparative psychology; consciousness; -
Empiricism, Stances, and the Problem of Voluntarism
Swarthmore College Works Philosophy Faculty Works Philosophy 1-1-2011 Empiricism, Stances, And The Problem Of Voluntarism Peter Baumann Swarthmore College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-philosophy Part of the Philosophy Commons Let us know how access to these works benefits ouy Recommended Citation Peter Baumann. (2011). "Empiricism, Stances, And The Problem Of Voluntarism". Synthese. Volume 178, Issue 1. 27-36. DOI: 10.1007/s11229-009-9519-7 https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-philosophy/13 This work is brought to you for free by Swarthmore College Libraries' Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Empiricism, Stances and the Problem of Voluntarism Peter Baumann Synthese 178, 2011, 207-224 Empiricism can be very roughly characterized as the view that our knowledge about the world is based on sensory experience. Our knowledge about the world is "based" on sensory experience in the sense that we could not know what we know without relying on sense experience. This leaves open the possibility that sense experience is only necessary but not sufficient for the knowledge based upon it1-as long as the non-empirical elements are not themselves sufficient for the relevant piece of knowledge.2 The basing relation is not just a genetic one but also a justificatory one: Sense experience does not only lead to beliefs which happen to count as knowledge but also qualifies them as knowledge. In his important book The Empirical Stance Bas van Fraassen characterizes traditional empiricism at one point in a more negative way-as involving the rejection of "metaphysical" explanations which proceed by postulating the existence of something not 1 "But although all our cognition commences with experience, yet it does not on that account all arise from experience." (Kant, CpR, B1). -
Hume's Problem of Induction and the Universalization Of
In Defense of Newtonian Induction: Hume's Problem of Induction and the Universalization of Primary Qualities Ori Belkind November 1, 2018 Abstract This paper aims to advance two claims. First, it aims to show that Hume's argument against the rationality of induction is sound. However, I claim that the conclusion does not follow merely from the self-defeating attempts to justify the rule of induction, unlike traditional readings of the argument. Rather, the skeptical conclusion must also take into account Hume's argument that the secret powers that are present in bodies and give rise to sensible qualities are unknowable. The paper's second aim is to show that Newtonian induction escapes Hume's secret powers argument, given that it includes a transductive inference, from observable phenomena to the powers present in the ultimate parts of matter. Consequently Hume's argument against the rationality of induction does not demonstrate the non-rational nature of Newtonian induction. 1 Introduction This paper articulates a certain reading of Hume's argument against the rationality of induction. Unlike traditional interpretations of Hume's argument, mine takes his argument to involve two distinct sub-arguments; the first is that inductive inferences lack rational support. I term this sub-argument the No Rational Support Argument (NRSA) (Section 2). I also argue that Hume uses a second sub- argument, one I term the Secret Powers Argument, or SPA, to undermine our belief in the rationality of induction. According to the SPA (examined in Section 3), we do not have access to the secret powers of bodies. -
Philosophical Adventures
Philosophical Adventures Elisabeth A. Lloyd INDIANA UNIVERSITY John Dewey lecture delivered at the one hundred tenth annual Central Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 21, 2013. I had the lovely opportunity of being introduced by Alison Wylie, to whom I owe a large thank you, and thank you especially to Anne Jacobson, and the whole program committee, for this chance to share a bit of my life and career with you. This invitation charged that I was to give an “autobiographical sort” of talk. Specifically, it required the speaker to provide “an intellectual autobiography, with perhaps some account of the way in which [she] was shaped by or shaped the profession, how the profession seems to have changed over the years, etc. The lecturer might reflect on the people and issues that led [her] into philosophy and provide a personal perspective on the state of the field today.” I tried to stick pretty closely to this mandate. Over the course of my career, which is now—although I find this astounding—over thirty years long, I have had the great pleasure of seeing my primary field of research grow and establish itself as a serious field of thought and activity in philosophy. When I was in graduate school at Princeton in the early 1980s, I was told, and I quote, “there is no such thing as Philosophy of Biology. You can’t write a dissertation on that.” And John Beatty wrote that same year: “In the world of academic specialties and subspecialties, philosophy of biology certainly counts as a self-respecting, if not otherwise respected, field of study.”1 It is impossible to imagine anyone saying that now! Five years later, I was also told that feminist philosophy of science was hopeless, that there were no good cases of male bias in science worth discussing, and that since science was self- correcting, those sorts of bias couldn’t have any long-term significance.