Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-14T16:52:31.323Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 1 - Reference, perception, and realism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2012

Athanassios Raftopoulos
Affiliation:
University of Cyprus
Peter Machamer
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Get access

Summary

This chapter focuses on the problem of the reference in perception, the problem of the role of action in reference-fixing, and the reference of the theoretical terms of scientific theories. Epistemological constructivism undermines realism by arguing that the experience of the world is mediated by the concepts, and that there is no direct way to examine which aspects of objects belong to them independently of the conceptualizations. Semantic constructivism attacks realism on the ground that there is no direct way to set up the relation between the terms of representations and the entities to which they purportedly refer. For realism to fight back, realists must undermine both epistemological and semantic constructivism. The task of the realist would be to examine the assumptions underlying these two theories of reference, and try to figure out a way to overcome their difficulties by revising or undermining the underlying assumptions.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×