SELECTIVE REALISM VERSUS INDIVIDUAL REALISM FOR SCIENTIFIC CREATIVITY / SELEKTYVUSIS REALIZMAS VERSUS INDIVIDUALUSIS MOKSLINIO KŪRYBINGUMO REALIZMAS

Structural realism versus standard scientific realism: the case of phlogiston and dephlogisticated air

The aim of this paper is to revisit the phlogiston theory to see what can be learned from it about the relationship between scientific realism, approximate truth and successful reference. It is argued that phlogiston theory did to some extent correctly describe the causal or nomological structure of the world, and that some of its central terms can be regarded as referring. However, it is concl...

Structural realism versus deployment realism: A comparative evaluation.

In this paper I challenge and adjudicate between the two positions that have come to prominence in the scientific realism debate: deployment realism and structural realism. I discuss a set of cases from the history of celestial mechanics, including some of the most important successes in the history of science. To the surprise of the deployment realist, these are novel predictive successes towa...

Bartering for time: realism versus hope.

The issue of third-party reimbursement also came up. “We hope the guidelines will help with reimbursement with some of these therapies by becoming standard practice,” Denlinger said. “But we don’t yet know.” Similarly, Philippe Spiess, M.D., genitourinary oncologist at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and a member of NCCN’s bladder/penile cancer panel, said that uncertainty surround...

Realism for scientific ontologies

Science aims to develop an accurate understanding of reality through a variety of rigorously empirical and formal methods. Ontologies are used to formalize the meaning of terms within a domain of discourse. The Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) is an ontology of particular importance in the biomedical domains, where it provides the top-level for numerous ontologies, including those admitted as part o...

Pyrrhic Victories for Scientific Realism