Structural realism and metatheoretical structuralism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ef.21144Keywords:
scientific realism, structural realism, metatheoretical structuralism, epistemic structural realism, ontic-structural realismAbstract
Structural realism, in response to criticism known as “pessimistic meta-induction”, argues for the persistence of the mathematical structure of the theories (not the content) in some cases (the limits) when there exist changes in their evolution, so that the success of subsequent theories is explained by the structural retention of previous theories. Although there is no monolithic point of view regarding the realism/anti-realism debate in meta-theoretical structuralism, in this paper we analyze and discuss, from this modelistic proposal, the validity of the central arguments of structural realism as an alternative to standard scientific realism. We follow the distinction of structural realism made by Ladyman between epistemic and ontic structural realism, and although in this paper we will provide a general description of the first, the analysis will focus primarily on the analysis and criticism in the second. To this end, we will use the tools provided by meta-structuralist theory in philosophy of science and, specifically, the identification made therein of theories as classes or sets of models and/or set-theoretic structures. Our purpose here is to clarify, from this meta-theoretical proposal, the basic assumptions of what Sneed called “minimal scientific realism” and its variant, epistemological structural realism, specifically as regards his notion of the proposed structural continuity and the suggestions made by some authors to an appeal to Ramsey’s judgment as justification of structural realism without reference.
Downloads
References
BALZER, W., MOULINES, C. U. & SNEED, J. D. (1987) An Architectonica for Science. Reidel, Dordrecht. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3765-9
BOYD, R. (1983): “On current Status of the Issue of Scientific Realism”, en: Erkenntnis 19, pp. 45-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7676-5_3
CLARKE, S. & TIMOTHY, D. L. (eds.) (2002) Recent Themes in the Philosophy of Science. Scientific Realism and Commonsense. Netherlands, Dordrecht.
CRUCE, P. & PAPINEAU, D. (2002): “Scientific Realism without Reference”, en: Marsonet, M. (ed.). The Problem of Realism. Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing Co.
DÍEZ, J. y MOULINES, C. U. (1997) Fundamentos de filosofía de la ciencia. Barcelona, Ariel.
FRENCH, S. y LADYMAN, J. (1998) “Remodeling Structural Realism: Quantum Physics and the Metaphysics of Structure”, en: Synthese 36, 31-66.
FRENCH, S. y KRAUZE, D. (2006) Identity in Physics: A Historical Philosophical, and Formal Analysis. Oxford: Oxford U. P. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0199278245.001.0001
FRENCH, S. y SAATSI, J. (2006) “Realism about Structure: The Semantic View and Nonlinguistic Representation”, In: Philosophy of Science 73 (5): 548-559. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/518325
LADYMAN, J. (1998): “What is Structural Realism?”, en: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 29, 409-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(98)80129-5
KRAUZE, D. (2007) La metafísica de la no individualidad. Ensayo sobre la indiscernibilidad de los quanta. Florianápolis (versión preliminar en medio magnético).
MOULINES, C.U. (1991) Pluralidad y recursión. Estudios epistemológicos. Madrid, Alianza.
NEWMAN, M. (2005) “Ramsey-Sentence Realism as an Answer to the Pessimistic Meta-Induction”, en: Philosophy of Science 72 (5): 1373-1384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/508975
PÉREZ, A. R. (1985) “El concepto de teoría empírica de van Fraassen”, en: Crítica, vol. XVII, No. 51, México.
POINCARÉ, H. (1905) La Valeur de la science (Versión en inglés: Poincaré, H. (1952) The Value of Science. New York, Dover). Paris, Flammarion.
PSILLOS, S. (1999) Scientific Realism: How Science Tracks Truth. London, Routledge.
PSILLOS, S. (2001) “Is Structural Realism Possible?”, en: Philosophy of Science 68 (Proceedings), S13-S24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/392894
PUTNAM, H. (1975) Philosophical papers, vol. 1: Mathematics, Matter and Method, Cambridge U. P.
RIVADULLA, A. (2010) “Two dogmas of Structural Realism. A confirmation of a philosophical death foretold”, en: Crítica, Revista Hispanoamericana de Filosofía, Vol. 42, No. 124 (abril 2010), pp. 3-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22201/iifs.18704905e.2010.890
RUSSELL, B. ([1992) Analysis of Matter. London, George Allen & Unwin.
SMART, J. J. C. (1963) Philosophy and Scientific Realism. London, Routledge.
SMART, J. J. C. (1979) “Difficulties for Realism in the Philosophy of Science”, en: Cohen, L. J. et al. (eds.), Logic, Methodology and the Philosophy of Science VI. Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Co.
STEGMÜLLER, W. (1981) La concepción estructuralista de las teorías. Madrid, Alianza.
SNEED, J. D. (1983): “Structuralism and Scientific Realism”, Erkenntnis 19, 345-370. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7676-5_19
WORRALL, J. (1989): “Structural Realism: The Best of Both Worlds?”, Dialectica, 43, 99-124 (Reimpreso en Papineau, D. (1996): The philosophy of science, Oxford, Oxford U.P.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-8361.1989.tb00933.x
VAN FRAASSEN, B. C. (1980): The Scientific Image, Oxford, Oxford U. P. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0198244274.001.0001
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2014 Juan Manuel Jaramillo Uribe
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term "Work" shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher a nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoCommercia-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions: (a) Attribution: Other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;(b) Noncommercial: Other users (including Publisher) may not use this Work for commercial purposes;
4. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal;
5. Authors are permitted, and Estudios de Filosofía promotes, to post online the preprint manuscript of the Work in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work is expected be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Estudios de Filosofía's assigned URL to the Article and its final published version in Estudios de Filosofía.
