Criteria for Attributing Predictive Responsibility in the Scientific Realism Debate

Deployment, Essentiality, Belief, Retention

Bibliographic Data

ID6190757
AuthorsTimothy D Lyons (Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, corresponding author), Timothy Lyons (Department of Philosophy, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Cavanaugh Hall, 333 425 University Boulelvard, Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA)
Year2009
Volume19
Issue2
Pages138-152
Publication date2009-06-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1210-3055 • E-ISSN: 1337-401X
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.2478/v10023-009-0029-5
OpenAlexW2044109487
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

Criteria for Attributing Predictive Responsibility in the Scientific Realism Debate: Deployment, Essentiality, Belief, Retention ... The most promising contemporary form of epistemic scientific realism is based on the following intuition: Belief should be directed, not toward theories as wholes, but toward particular theoretical constituents that are responsible for, or deployed in, key successes. While the debate on deployment realism is quite fresh, a significant degree of confusion has already entered into it. Here I identify five criteria that have sidetracked that debate. Setting these distractions aside, I endeavor to redirect the attention of both realists and non-realists to the fundamental intuition above. In more detail: I show that Stathis Psillos (1999) has offered an explicit criterion for picking out particular constituents, which, contrary to Kyle Stanford's (2006a) criticisms, neither assumes the truth of theories nor requires hindsight. I contend, however, that, in Psillos's case studies, Psillos has not successfully applied his explicit criterion. After clarifying the various alternative criteria at work (in those case studies and in a second line of criticism offered by Stanford), I argue that, irrespective of Stanford's criticisms, the explicit criterion Psillos does offer is not an acceptable one. Nonetheless, the deployment realist's fundamental intuition withstands all of these challenges. In closing, I point in a direction toward which I've elsewhere focused, suggesting that, despite the legitimacy and applicability of the deployment realist's intuition, the historical threat that prompted it remains

Aside · Confusion · Criticism · Epistemology · Hindsight bias · Intuition · Legitimacy · Political science · Realism · Sociology · Software deployment · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Quantum Mechanics and Applications · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access