Defending scientific realism against the

Haji Zade, Amir

doi:10.30465/ps.2021.34415.1492

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

amir haji zade

PhD in Comparative Philosophy, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran

https://doi.org/10.30465/ps.2021.34415.1492

Abstract

Kyle Stanford poses a new challenge to scientific realism, known as the new pessimistic induction. According to him, for every scientific theory, there are "unconceived alternative theories" that go beyond the understanding of scientists; Therefore, one can never be realistic about the unobservable entities of theories. This article tries to defend scientific realism against Stanford's argument by emphasizing the convergence of successful theories in the history of science. This article emphasizes that under the new pessimistic induction, given the unlimited number of unconceived alternative theories to any successful theory, the possibility of "matching" and "unifying" independent theories will be very unlikely. Whereas in the history of science, we see frequent examples of successful theories being linked. We also try to defend the idea of convergence against critiques.

Keywords

References

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