NDLI: How the growth of science ends theory change

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Fahrbach, Ludwig
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	This paper outlines a defense of scientific realism against the pessimistic meta-induction which appeals to the phenomenon of the exponential growth of science. Here, scientific realism is defined as the view that our current successful scientific theories are mostly approximately true, and pessimistic meta-induction is the argument that projects the occurrence of past refutations of successful theories to the present concluding that many or most current successful scientific theories are false. The defense starts with the observation that at least 80% of all scientific work ever done has been done since 1950, proceeds with the claim that practically all of our most successful theories were entirely stable during that period of time, and concludes that the projection of refutations of successful theories to the present is unsound. In addition to this defense, the paper offers a framework through which scientific realism can be compared with two types of anti-realism. The framework is also of help to examine the relationships between these three positions and the three main arguments offered respectively in their support (No-miracle argument, pessimistic meta-induction, underdetermination).
Starting Page	139
Ending Page	155
Page Count	17
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00397857
Journal	Synthese
Volume Number	180
Issue Number	2
e-ISSN	15730964
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2009-07-07
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Scientific realism Pessimistic meta-induction Exponential growth of science Empiricism No-miracles argument Philosophy of Science Epistemology Metaphysics Philosophy of Language Logic
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Philosophy Social Sciences

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

The pessimistic induction and the exponential growth of science reassessed

The pessimistic induction: a bad argument gone too far

The no miracles argument and the base rate fallacy

Structural correspondence, indirect reference, and partial truth: phlogiston theory and Newtonian mechanics

The No-Miracles Argument, reliabilism, and a methodological version of the generality problem

Beyond Structural Realism: pluralist criteria for theory evaluation

Success and truth in the realism/anti-realism debate

Aimless science

On Reichenbach’s argument for scientific realism

How the growth of science ends theory change

Similar Documents

The pessimistic induction and the exponential growth of science reassessed

The pessimistic induction: a bad argument gone too far

The no miracles argument and the base rate fallacy

Structural correspondence, indirect reference, and partial truth: phlogiston theory and Newtonian mechanics

The No-Miracles Argument, reliabilism, and a methodological version of the generality problem

Beyond Structural Realism: pluralist criteria for theory evaluation

Success and truth in the realism/anti-realism debate

Aimless science

On Reichenbach’s argument for scientific realism

How the growth of science ends theory change