Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Realism for Realistic People
  • Cited by 47
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
November 2022
Print publication year:
2022
Online ISBN:
9781108635738
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108635738
Subjects:
Philosophy of Science, Philosophy
Information

Book description

In this innovative book, Hasok Chang constructs a philosophy of science for 'realistic people' interested in understanding and promoting the actual practices of inquiry in science and other knowledge-focused areas of life. Inspired by pragmatist philosophy, he reconceives the very notions of reality and truth on the basis of his concept of the 'operational coherence' of epistemic activities, and offers new pragmatist conceptions of truth and reality as operational ideals achievable in actual scientific practice. Rejecting the version of scientific realism that is concerned with claiming that our theories correspond to an ultimate reality, he proposes instead an 'activist realism': a commitment to do all that we can actually do to improve our knowledge of realities. His book will appeal to scholars and students in philosophy, science and the history of science, and all who are concerned about the place of science and empirical truth in society.

Reviews

‘In this bold and wide-ranging new book, Hasok Chang provides a cornucopia of new ideas that challenge deeply-entrenched ways of thinking about scientific practice. He shows how insights of views that are often taken to be at odds with one another can be fruitfully combined in his own distinctive version of pragmatism. A tour de force.'

Philip Kitcher - Emeritus, Columbia University

‘It is a challenging task for philosophy of science to understand science in its subtlety and complexity. In this book, Hasok Chang achieves even more than that. His endeavour to make knowledge active is an inspiring contribution to reworking and improving the epistemic framework of science.'

Martin Carrier - Bielefield University

‘Chang’s comprehensive vision presented in this book compliments his studies of historical and contemporary scientific practice by setting out the proper stance in the philosophy of science. It is a very impressive accomplishment which distills the essential arguments from the vast literature on realism.’

David J. Stump Source: Metascience

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Contents

Contents
  • Chapter 1 - Active Knowledge
    pp 12-67
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation
References

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.