Realism and the Progress of Science

Peter James Smith

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511897597

This book examines the philosophical foundations of the realist view of the progress of science as cumulative. It is a view that has recently been faced with a number of powerful attacks in which successive scientific theories are seen, not as extending their scope and honing their explanations, but as incommensurable. There is, it is held, in principle no way of establishing that they are about the same things. From the voluminous literature on the topic, Dr Smith has selected relevantly and incisively and his exposition of the contending arguments is vigourous and clear, without undue technicality. As an explication and defence of realism it will interest all those concerned with this basic question in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of language.

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Realism and the Progress of Science

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Preface
pp vii-viii

Introduction
pp 1-3

1 - A realist account of scientific progress
pp 4-17

2 - The scrutability of reference
pp 18-45

3 - A theory of interpretation
pp 46-69

4 - Cluster theories of reference
pp 70-103

5 - The account in perspective
pp 104-124

Conclusion
pp 125-129

Bibliography
pp 130-132

Index
pp 133-135

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