Realism for Realistic People: A New Pragmatist Philosophy of Science

✍ Scribed by Hasok Chang

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 296
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In this innovative book, Hasok Chang constructs a philosophy of science for 'realistic people' interested in understanding and promoting the actual practices of inquiry in science and other knowledge-focused areas of life. Inspired by pragmatist philosophy, he reconceives the very notions of reality and truth on the basis of his concept of the 'operational coherence' of epistemic activities, and offers new pragmatist conceptions of truth and reality as operational ideals achievable in actual scientific practice. Rejecting the version of scientific realism that is concerned with claiming that our theories correspond to an ultimate reality, he proposes instead an 'activist realism': a commitment to do all that we can actually do to improve our knowledge of realities. His book will appeal to scholars and students in philosophy, science and the history of science, and all who are concerned about the place of science and empirical truth in society.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Summary
Title Page
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
What Is the Problem?
Pragmatist Notions of Knowledge, Truth and Reality
Scientific Realism as Realistic Activism
What Kind of Book Is This?
A Note on Structure
1 Active Knowledge
1.1 Overview
1.2 Epistemic Agents
1.3 Epistemic Activities and Systems of Practice
1.4 Operational Coherence
1.5 Inquiry as Aim-Oriented Adjustment
1.6 Pragmatism and Active Knowledge
2 Correspondence
2.1 Overview
2.2 Correspondence Realism: Between Metaphysics and Semantics
2.3 Can Reference Save Correspondence Realism?
2.4 Faith in Science
2.5 Real Representations
3 Reality
3.1 Overview
3.2 How Mind-Framing Works
3.3 The Achievement of Reality
3.4 Ontological Pluralism
3.5 Putting Things Together
4 Truth
4.1 Overview
4.2 Different Kinds of Truth
4.3 Empirical Truth and Operational Coherence
4.4 Truth as a Quality
4.5 Plurality and Incommensurability
4.6 Rehabilitating the Pragmatists
5 Realism
5.1 Overview
5.2 Pragmatism and Realism
5.3 Internal and Perspectival Realism
5.4 Pluralism and Realism
5.5 Epistemic Iteration Revisited
5.6 Progress and the Scientific Realism Debate
Closing Remarks
A Humanist Vision of Knowledge
The Road Ahead
Bringing Philosophy Back to Life
Bibliography
Index