
From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism
On Some Relations between Confirmation, Empirical Progress, and Truth Approximation
Theo A.F. Kuipers(Author)
Kluwer Academic Publishers
Published on 29. February 2000
Book
Hardback
XI, 372 pages
978-0-7923-6086-5 (ISBN)
Description
Surprisingly, modified versions of the confirmation theory (Carnap and Hempel) and truth approximation theory (Popper) turn out to be smoothly sythesizable. The glue between the two appears to be the instrumentalist methodology, rather than that of the falsificationalist.
The instrumentalist methodology, used in the separate, comparative evaluation of theories in terms of their successes and problems (hence, even if already falsified), provides in theory and practice the straight road to short-term empirical progress in science ( à la Laudan). It is also argued that such progress is also functional for all kinds of truth approximation: observational, referential, and theoretical. This sheds new light on the long-term dynamics of science and hence on the relation between the main epistemological positions, viz., instrumentalism (Toulmin, Laudan), constructive empiricism (Van Fraassen), referential realism (Hacking, Cartwright), and theory realism of a non-essentialist nature (constructive realism à la Popper).
Readership: Open minded philosophers and scientists. The book explains and justifies the scientist's intuition that the debate among philosophers about instrumentalism and realism has almost no practical consequences.
The instrumentalist methodology, used in the separate, comparative evaluation of theories in terms of their successes and problems (hence, even if already falsified), provides in theory and practice the straight road to short-term empirical progress in science ( à la Laudan). It is also argued that such progress is also functional for all kinds of truth approximation: observational, referential, and theoretical. This sheds new light on the long-term dynamics of science and hence on the relation between the main epistemological positions, viz., instrumentalism (Toulmin, Laudan), constructive empiricism (Van Fraassen), referential realism (Hacking, Cartwright), and theory realism of a non-essentialist nature (constructive realism à la Popper).
Readership: Open minded philosophers and scientists. The book explains and justifies the scientist's intuition that the debate among philosophers about instrumentalism and realism has almost no practical consequences.
More details
Series
Edition
2000 ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Dordrecht
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Research
Illustrations
XI, 372 p.
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
746 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7923-6086-5 (9780792360865)
DOI
10.1007/978-94-017-1618-5
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Theo A.F. Kuipers
From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism
On Some Relations between Confirmation, Empirical Progress, and Truth Approximation
E-Book
04/2013
Springer
€149.79
Available for download

Theo A.F. Kuipers
From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism
On Some Relations between Confirmation, Empirical Progress, and Truth Approximation
Book
12/2010
Springer
€160.49
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Person
Professor Theo Kuipers
is the author of
From Instrumentalism to
Constructive Realism
(Synthese Library 287, 2000). He is the leader of the Groningen Research Group `Cognitive Structures in Knowledge and Knowledge Development', which gained the highest possible scores in two successive assessments of Dutch philosophical research by international committees.
Content
1: General Introduction: Epistemological Positions.- I: Confirmation.- 2: Confirmation by the Hd-Method.- 3: Quantitative Confirmation, and Its Qualitative Consequences.- 4: Inductive Confirmation and Inductive Logic.- II: Empirical Progress.- 5: Separate Evaluation of Theories by the Hd-Method.- 6: Empirical Progress and Pseudoscience.- III: Basic Truth Approximation.- 7. Truthlikeness and Truth Approximation.- 8: Intuitions of Scientists and Philosophers.- 9: Epistemological Stratification of Nomic Truth Approximation.- IV: Refined Truth Approximation.- 10: Refinement of Nomic Truth Approximation.- 11: Examples of Potential Truth Approximation.- 12: Quantitative Truthlikeness and Truth Approximation.- 13: Conclusion: Constructive Realism.- Notes.- References.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.