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Chapter 6 - Virtues as Confidence Boosters and the Argument from Choice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2018

Samuel Schindler
Affiliation:
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
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Summary

Scientific experiments often produce conflicting data. How do scientists deal with data conflicts when they want to arbitrate between theories on the basis of those data? On the basis of a number of case studies, it is shown in this chapter that theoretical virtues can boost scientists' confidence in viewing data as reliable or unreliable. The chapter argues that such cases are evidence against the empiricist's Negative View, according to which theoretical virtues are not epistemic, but only pragmatic criteria in theory choice. More specifically, the chapter argues that a rational rendering of scientists' theory-choices requires theoretical virtues to be epistemic criteria of theory choice. This constitutes the ‘argument from choice’ for scientific realism.
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Theoretical Virtues in Science
Uncovering Reality through Theory
, pp. 156 - 187
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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