Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T14:55:17.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Motivational Realism: The Natural Classification for Pierre Duhem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Karen Merikangas Darling
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper addresses a central interpretive problem in understanding Pierre Duhem's philosophy of science. The problem arises because there is textual support for both realist and antirealist readings of his work. I argue that his realist and antirealist claims are different. For Duhem, scientific reasoning leads straight to antirealism. But intuition (reasons of the heart) motivates, without justifying, a kind of realism. I develop this idea to suggest a motivational realist interpretation of Duhem's philosophy.

Type
History of Philosophy of Science
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 70 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2002 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part I: Contributed Papers , December 2003 , pp. 1125 - 1136
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

‡

I would like to express my gratitude to Arthur Fine for his helpful comments and editorial advice. Thanks also to Mathias Frisch for his criticisms of an earlier draft.

References

Darling, Karen Merikangas (2002a), Pierre Duhem's Philosophy of Science. Ph.D. Dissertation. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University.Google Scholar
Darling, Karen Merikangas (2002b), “The Complete Duhemian Underdetermination Argument: Scientific Language and Practice”, The Complete Duhemian Underdetermination Argument: Scientific Language and Practice 33(3): 511–533.Google Scholar
Duhem, Pierre (1908), To Save the Phenomena: An Essay on the Idea of Physical Theory from Plato to Galileo, trans. by Doland, Edmund and Maschler, Chaninah. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.Google Scholar
Duhem, Pierre (1913), “Logical Examination of Physical Theory”, in Essays in the History and Philosophy of Science, trans. and ed. by Ariew, Roger and Barker, Peter. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996.Google Scholar
Duhem, Pierre (1914), The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory, 2d ed., trans. by Philip P. Wiener. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.Google Scholar
Fine, Arthur (1996), The Shaky Game: Einstein, Realism, and the Quantum Theory, 2d ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giedymin, Jerzy (1976), “Instrumentalism and Its Critique: A Reappraisal”, in Essays in Memory of Imre Lakatos, R. S. Cohen et al., (eds.). Dordrecht: D. Reidel.Google Scholar
Joy, Glenn C. (1975), “Instrumentalism: A Duhemian Reply to Popper”, Instrumentalism: A Duhemian Reply to Popper 52(2): 194–199.Google Scholar
Martin, R. Niall D. (1987), “Saving Duhem and Galileo: Duhemian Methodology and the Saving of the Phenomena”, Saving Duhem and Galileo: Duhemian Methodology and the Saving of the Phenomena 25:301–319.Google Scholar
McMullin, Ernan (1990), “Comment: Duhem's Middle Way”, Comment: Duhem's Middle Way 83:421–430.Google Scholar
Needham, Paul (1991), “Duhem and Cartwright on the Truth of Laws”, Duhem and Cartwright on the Truth of Laws 89:89–109.Google Scholar
Needham, Paul (1998), “Duhem's Physicalism”, Duhem's Physicalism 29(1): 33–62.Google Scholar
Needham, Paul (2000), “Duhem and Quine”, Duhem and Quine 54(2): 109–132.Google Scholar
Popper, Karl (1959), The Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Popper, Karl (1963), Conjectures and Refutations. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Psillos, Stathis (1999), Scientific Realism: How Science Tracks Truth. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar