Fertility and Scientific Realism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8399218 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert Segall (University of Cape Town, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 237-246 |
| Publication date | 2008-06-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axn011 |
| OpenAlex | W2125893865 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 9 |
It has been claimed that modern long-standing scientific theories are fertile, in the sense of having been progressively successfully modified to meet new experimental observations or theoretical developments in related areas, and that these modifications arise naturally from each preceding version of the theory. McMullin has advanced this form of fertility as a vindication of scientific realism, since if the theories did not approximate the real, the observation would be inexplicable. In response Nolan has denied the existence of fertility in this sense as an independent virtue. The present paper argues that the rebuttal is flawed. 1. Introduction2. McMullin's P-fertility3. Fertility Explained Away as Novel Prediction4. Conclusion
Epistemology · Fertility · Political science · Population · Realism · Rebuttal · Scientific realism · Scientific theory · Sociology · Virtue · Demography · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science
| Citations per year | 0.23 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2013 - 2018 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |