A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism

A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism Cambridge University Press
9780521876490 - A METAPHYSICS FOR SCIENTIFIC REALISM - by Anjan Chakravartty
Index

Index

abduction, see inference to the best explanation

abstraction; see also approximation, conditions of

Albert, David Z.

antirealism

and inference to the best explanation

and the pessimistic induction

and underdetermination see also constructive empiricism; idealism; instrumentalism; logical empiricism; sociology of scientific knowledge

approximate truth

and interest/use relativity

possible worlds approach to

objection to

for realists

similarity approach to see also possible worlds approach to

and theory unification

type hierarchy approach to

and natural kinds

approximation, conditions of

Aristotle

Armstrong, David; see also laws of nature

Aronson, Jerrold

and pernicious holism

astronomy, theory of

Newtonian

Ptolemaic

Beauchamp, Tom L.

Beckermann, Ansgar

Berkeley, Bishop George; see also idealism

biological kinds see kinds; biological species concepts

biological species concepts

and cluster kinds

ecological

interbreeding

phenetic

phylogenetic see also kinds

Bird, Alexander

Black, Robert

Blackburn, Simon

Bohm, David

Boyd, Richard

and homeostatic clustering

Boyle’s law

Broad, C. D.

capacities see causal properties

Carnap, Rudolf

and reducing disposition-talk see also logical empiricism

Carroll, John

Cartwright, Nancy

Cassirer, Ernst

Castellani, Elena

causal knowledge of/contact with entities see entity realism; Cartwright, Nancy

causal laws see laws of nature

causal necessity see causation

causal powers, see also causal properties

causal processes

as fundamental

Salmon-Dowe

and Hume

and interactions

and processes

and realism see also objects; causation

causal properties

contextuality of

conventionality of groups of

knowledge of

naming

and rigid designation

and trans-world clusters

“many-faceted”

metaphysics of see also structure; structural realism; semirealism; properties; property identity; laws of nature

causal realism

empiricist critique of

incoherence of; see also Russell, Bertrand

and contiguity objection

and demand for causal mechanism

and regress objection

and mind-independence

and necessity

rejection of; see also Hume, David; Kant, Immanuel

responses to incoherence of

and conventionality of demarcating events

and relations between events

and relations between properties

semirealist response to incoherence of

and causal mechanism

and causal necessity

causal processes as

role of causal properties as

traditional account of

causal theory of reference see reference, theory of

causation

the denial of

INUS conditions of see also Mackie, J. L.

and laws of nature

the nature of

process theory of

alternatives to

and causal mechanism

and causal properties

proximate

and scientific realism

and semirealism

ceteris paribus law statements

Chakravartty, Anjan

classical physics

and individuality see also observables

and Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics

constructive empiricism

and observable-unobservable distinction

and realist semantics see also instrumentalism; van Fraassen, Bas C.

constructive realism; see also Giere; scientific theories, semantic/ model-theoretic view of

Copernicus

Costa, Michael J.

Craig, Edward

Crane, Timothy

Crick, Francis; see also DNA, structure of

Davidson, Donald

de Sousa, Ronald

Demopoulos, William

description; see also representation

Devitt, Michael

dispositional identity thesis (DIT)

and emergence of natural necessity

epistemic objections to

and holism

metaphysical objections to

dispositional realism

dispositions see causal properties

DNA, structure of

Dowe, Phil

Dretske, Fred, see also laws of nature

Duhem, Pierre

and Duhem-Quine thesis

Dupré, John

and promiscuous realism

Ehring, Douglas

Elder, Crawford

electron

Ellis, Brian

and the New Essentialism (NE)

and law-like generalizations

empirical adequacy

empirical equivalence

empiricism

as empirical stance

as a factual thesis

and metaphysics see Hume, David; constructive empiricism; antirealism

Empiricus, Sextus

English, Jane

entity realism

incompleteness of

negative thesis of

ontology of

and pessimistic (meta-)induction

positive thesis of

pros and cons of

and representation

epistemic frameworks; see also approximate truth, possible worlds approach to

epistemology

and epistemic stances

and epistemic warrant

and fact–value distinction

and factual belief

and levels of analysis

and meta-stances

Ereshefsky, Mark

essence see kinds

events, as relata of causation; see also causal processes

explanation

causal

metaphorical

and prediction

and the success of science see inference to the best explanation

Fales, Evan

Fermi, Enrico

Fine, Arthur

and natural ontological attitude

Flohr, Hans

Franklin, Allan

French, Steven

Fresnel, Augustin

and Fresnel’s equations

Friedman, Michael

gene see Mendel, Gregor; DNA, structure of

Ghiselin, Michael T.

Giere, Ronald N.

Glymour, Clark

Goodman, Nelson

and conventionalism

and denotation

and Languages of Art

Gower, Barry

Greenberg, Clement

Griffiths, Paul

and historical essence

and phylogenetic inertia

Hacking, Ian; see also entity realism

haecceity

Hardin, Clyde

Harré, Rom

Heisenberg, Werner

Hempel, Carl

Hiley, Basil J.

Horwich, Paul

Hugget, Nick

Hull, David

Hume, David

as causal realist

and causation

and rejection of causal realism

Hurewicz, Witold

Hylton, Peter

idealism

and phenomenalism see Berkeley, Bishop George

idealization; see also approximation

identity of indiscernibles, principle of

individuality see particulars

inference to the best explanation (IBE)

and antirealism

and the miracle argument

instrumentalism

and prediction

Jones, Martin R. see Thomson-Jones, Martin

Kamminga, Harmke

Kant, Immanuel

and rejection of causal realism

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

Khalidi, Muhammad Ali

Kim, Jaegwon

kinds (of objects/particulars)

cluster

and reductionism

essence

historical

and law statements

natural

and causal properties

and laws of nature

and role in scientific theories

and objectivity

phylogenetic see biological species concepts

scientific

King, Jeffrey C.

Kitcher, Phillip

and presuppositional posits

and working posits

Kornblith, Hilary

Kripke, Saul

Kuhn, Thomas

Kukla, André

Ladyman, James

Laudan, Larry; see also pessimistic (meta-)induction

Lavoisier, Antoine; see also oxygen

law-like generalizations see law statements

laws of nature

and natural kinds

and vacuous laws

in-practice

in-principle, see also idealization

and problem of missing properties

and problem of missing relations

as relations between properties

law statements

behavioural

causal

definitional

Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm

and identity of indiscernibles, principle of

Leplin, Jarrett

Lewis, David

Lierse, Caroline

light, theories of

electromagnetic

and luminiferous ether

Newtonian

transition between

and wave optics see also structural realism

Lipton, Peter

Locke, John

and real and nominal essence

logical empiricism; see also logical positivism

logical positivism; see also logical empiricism

Mackie, J. L.

McMullin, Ernan

Martin, C. B.

mathematical description/equations see structural realism

mathematical formalism

Matthen, Mohan

Maxwell, Grover

and Russell-Ramsey approach

Maxwell, James Clerk

and Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics

and Maxwell’s equations

and theory of electromagnetism

Mayr, Ernst

and proximate and ultimate causes

Mellor, D. H.

Mendel, Gregor

metaphysics

and causation

and commitments

critique of see van Fraassen, Bas C.

critique of the empiricist critique of

and epistemology

as foundational

and laws of nature

and semirealism; see also causation; kinds

as metaphysical stance

speculative

meta-stances

and criterion of rationality

and stance relativism

and values see also van Fraassen, Bas C., and voluntarism

Mill, John Stuart

Miller, David; see also approximate truth, possible worlds approach to

Millikan, Robert

minimal interpretation (of structure); see also mathematical formalism

miracle argument, the

and Hilary Putnam

poverty of

and structural realism

modality

contingency

necessity

models; see also abstraction; idealization; representation; scientific theories, semantic/model-theoretic view of

molecular biology

Molière, and dormitive virtues

Moore, G. E.

Morrison, Margaret

Mumford, Stephen

natural kinds see kinds

natural ontological attitude (NOA)

necessary connections

metaphors for see also causation

necessity

ambiguity of

de dicto

de re, see also laws of nature

metaphysical

natural/nomic

mighty biceps objection to see also dispositional identity thesis

neutrino

Newman, M. H. A.

and the Newman objection

Newton, Isaac

and Newton’s laws

and theory of universal gravitation

Niiniluoto, Ilkka

and abstraction and idealization

and cognitive problems

nominalism

and natural necessity

and properties

and trope theories

and unanalysable objects

non-referring terms

caloric

crystalline spheres

luminiferous ether

optical ether

phlogiston

objects

abstract

causal interaction of

disanalogy between everyday and quantum

as a heterogeneous kind

knowledge of

the nature of see also universals; nominalism

and the principle of the identity of indiscernibles

underdetermination of see also quantum mechanics

observables

and individuality

Oddie, Graham

Okasha, Samir

ontological relativism

ontology/ontological framework

object-free see also structural realism, ontic SR; natural ontological attitude

Platonic Forms see objects, abstract

principles for revision/replacement of

explanatory role principle

need principle

primitives principle; see also nominalism; universals

optimistic induction

and rationalization post hoc see also semirealism

oxygen, theory of

Papineau, David

particle physics, Standard Model of

particulars

and causal properties

concept of

events as

knowledge of

and semirealism

and structural knowledge see also causal processes; objects

Pauli, Wolfgang

and Pauli exclusion principle

Pearl, Judea

perspectival realism; see also constructive realism

pessimistic (meta-)induction (PI)

and approximate truth

and reference of theoretical terms

responses to; see also scepticism, selective

and structural realism

phlogiston, theory of

Picasso, Pablo

Pierce, Charles Saunders

and inference to the best explanation

Place, U. T.

Poincaré, Henri

and Science and Hypothesis

Popper, Karl; see also verisimilitude

possible worlds; see also approximate truth, possible worlds approach to

Post, Heinz

and General Correspondence Principle

pragmatism

prediction

and instrumentalism

novel predictions

and retrodiction

Priestley, Joseph; see also phlogiston

processes see causal processes

properties

auxiliary

epistemic function of

and quantum mechanics

and theory of gravity

categoricalist theory of

cohering sets of; see also objects; particulars; minimal interpretation

and conventionality of groups of

demarcating detection/auxiliary

detection

dispositional

and context of explanation see also causal properties; Carnap, Rudolf; Molière

occurrent

perceptually direct

sparse view of

and trope theory

property identity

and dispositional identity thesis

and emergence of causal laws

primitive principle of

in terms of dispositions for relations

three crucial assumptions of

property kinds; see also kinds

Psillos, Stathis

and approximate truth

and caloric theory of heat

and optical ether theories

Ptolemy

Putnam, Hilary

and the miracle argument

and principle of benefit of the doubt

quantum mechanics

and Bose-Einstein statistics

and Fermi-Dirac statistics

and individuality; see also unobservables

and non-individuality, see also identity of indiscernibles, principle of

and ontic SR

quiddity

Quine, Willard V. O.

and Duhem-Quine thesis

Ramsey sentence

reality

mind-dependent see antirealism

mind-independent see realism

nature of

structure of

realism; see also scientific realism

Redhead, Michael

reference

and abstraction and idealization

and denotation

indirect

of theoretical terms

theory of

causal

causal-descriptive

relation–relata dependence

as causal dependence

as conceptual dependence

relations

of compresence; see also universals; nominalism structure

representation

and approximate truth

in art

and conventionalism

and denotation

as function of reference

and intentionality

and models

realistic and non-realistic

and resemblance

and substantive similarity relation see also abstraction; idealization

Rosenberg, Alexander

Ruse, Michael

Russell, Bertrand

on causation

and causal lines

and the law of causality

and definition of structural identity

and knowledge by acquaintance

and knowledge by description

Rutherford, Ernest

Ryle, Gilbert

Saatsi, Juha

Salmon, Wesley

Sankey, Howard

scepticism

selective; see also entity realism; structural realism; semirealism antirealism

Scheines, Richard

Schlick, Moritz

Schrödinger, Irwin

science

as means of knowledge production

the success of see the miracle argument; explanation

scientific kinds see kinds

scientific realism

as an alternative methodology see sociology of scientific knowledge

in a broader context see realism

and causation

commitments of

and degree of belief

and dilemma for semantic view

empirical refutation of see pessimistic (meta-)induction

epistemological aspect of

internal coherence of

and laws of nature

metaphysical foundations of

metaphysics and epistemology of

and the miracle argument

and naïve realism

ontological aspect of

as a perennial issue

sceptical challenges to; see also scepticism; empiricism

semantic aspect of see also approximate truth

scientific theories

and correspondence; see also truth, correspondence theory of

Darwinian analogy regarding

discontinuities in see theory change; pessimistic (meta-)induction

dynamical

false

and knowledge see description; representation; models

literal interpretation of see scientific realism

mature

nature of

non-literal interpretation of see logical empiricism; idealism

in practice see Giere, Ronald N.

pragmatic constraints of see abstraction; idealization

pragmatic virtues of

semantic/model-theoretic view of

geometrical version of

Giere’s version of

Suppe’s version of

and truth aptness

traditional/syntactic view of

semirealism

and causal properties and relations

and causation

and definition of structure

and dispositional realism

and geometrical structures

and mathematical formalism

and natural kinds

and nature–structure distinction

and optimistic induction

and particulars

and reference of theoretical terms

Shapere, Dudley

Shoemaker, Sydney

Smith, Peter; see also scientific theories, semantic/model-theoretic view of, geometrical version of

Sober, Elliot

sociability (of properties)

sociology of scientific knowledge; see also Kuhn, Thomas

Spirtes, Peter

Stahl, Georg; see also phlogiston, theory of

Stanford, Kyle

Strawson, Galen

structural realism (SR)

epistemic SR

lesson of and problem with

and the nature of particulars

and the Newman objection

ontology of

and quantum mechanics

see Russell, Bertrand

incompleteness of

and knowledge of structure

and mathematical description/equations

and nature of (parts of) reality

ontic SR

and quantum mechanics see also ontology/ontological framework

and structure of (parts of) reality

structuralism see structural realism

structure

abstract; see also Russell, Bertrand

concrete

knowledge of

geometrical

as a property of relations

Suárez, Mauricio

Suppe, Frederick

and quasi-realism

Swinburne, Richard

Swoyer, Chris

Teller, Paul; see also epistemology, epistemic stances

theory change

methodological principles of see also pessimistic (meta-)induction

theory choice, criteria for

theory realism

Thompson, J. J.

Thomson-Jones, Martin

Tichý, Pavel

time, nature of see causal realism, incoherence of

Tooley, Michael, see also laws of nature

trope theory

truth

qua abstraction

correspondence theory of; see also scientific realism

and de-idealization

epistemic theory of; see also pragmatism

qua idealization

and philosophy of art; see also Goodman, Nelson

redundancy theory of; see also constructive realism

and representation see also approximate truth

truth-likeness

and abstraction and idealization see also verisimilitude; approximate truth

underdetermination (UTD)

and empirical equivalence

universals

and bundle theories

and natural necessity

realism about

and substratum view

unobservables

and correspondence rules

detectable

indirect detection of (neutrino)

and individuality

and instrumentalism

and logical empiricism

ontological status of

property relations, knowledge of

structure of

undetectable

vacuous laws see laws of nature

van der Waals equation

van Fraassen, Bas C.

and criterion of rationality

and critique of metaphysics

and Darwinian analogy regarding successful theories

and empirical stance

and stances

and success of science

and voluntarism; see also meta-stances constructive empiricism

Vendler, Zeno

Venn, John

verisimilitude; see also truth-likeness; approximate truth

Vienna Circle; see also logical positivism

Wallman, Henry

Watson, James; see also DNA, structure of

Way, Eileen Cornell

Wilkerson, T. E.

Woodward, James

Worrall, John; see also structural realism

Zahar, Elie

Zeno, and paradox of the arrow

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