Faith, Belief and Fictionalism

3. Fictionalism and Science

It is often assumed without argument that fictionalism in the philosophy of science contradicts scientific realism. This paper is a critical analysis of this assumption. The kind of fictionalism that is at present discussed in philosophy of science is characterised, and distinguished from fictionalism in other areas. A distinction is then drawn between forms of fictional representation, and two...

From Mathematical Fictionalism to TruthTheoretic Fictionalism

In this paper, we argue that if Stephen Yablo (2005) is right that philosophers of mathematics ought to endorse a fictionalist view of number-talk, then there is a compelling reason for deflationists about truth (henceforth, T-deflationists) to endorse a fictionalist view of truth-talk. More specifically, our claim will be that, for T-deflationists, Yablo’s argument for mathematical fictionalis...

A Dilemma for Moral Fictionalism

The most prominent anti-realist program in recent metaethics is the expressivist strategy of treating ethical claims as expressing not beliefs but noncognitive attitudes of some sort. Its popularity stems in part from the fact that, by construing ethical claims as expressing noncognitive attitudes rather than beliefs, one can reject a realist ontology of morality without rejecting moral discour...

dEfininG faitH and faitH PraCtiCES

recent studies demonstrate an overlapping relationship between faith practices of individuals, family functioning, and the corporate faith of congregations. this study reports on the psychometric properties of the Christian faith Practices Scale (CfPS), which was created to empirically measure dykstra’s faith behaviors or “practices.” analysis of a large purposive sample (n=7,403) indicates ini...

Faith, Hope and Doubt