The article describes scientific realism and the debate around this position. It shows that initially (in scholastic tradition) between realists antirealists was purely ontological, since it accepted when we know, know real − knowledge cannot be anything other than of real. question about reality object our knowledge, whether world beyond representations is equal to represent ourselves, disting...

Scientific realism holds that scientific theories are approximations of universal truths about reality, whereas scientific instrumentalism posits that scientific theories are intellectual structures that provide adequate predictions of what is observed and useful frameworks for answering questions and solving problems in a given domain. These philosophical perspectives have different strengths ...

Realist evaluation has gained prominence in the field of recent years. Its theory-driven approach to explaining how and why programmes work or not makes it attractive many novices, early career researchers, organizations implementing various globally relevant policymakers programme implementers. While realist seeks be pragmatic, adopting principles methods that can used help focus an evaluation...

Abstract In an earlier article on this journal I argued that the problem of empirical underdetermination can for largest part be solved by theoretical virtues, and remaining it tolerated. Here confront two further challenges to scientific realism based underdetermination. First, there are four classes theories which may seem underdetermined even virtues. Concerning them argue (i) produced trivi...

A general insight of 20th-century philosophy of science is that the acceptance of a scientific theory is grounded, not merely on a theory’s relation to data, but on its status as having no, or being superior to its, competitors. I explore the ways in which scientific realists might be thought to utilise this insight, have in fact utilised it, and can legitimately utilise it. In more detail, I p...

Any account of scientific change needs to accommodate two issues: conceptual and structural changes. In this paper, I argue that standard versions of scientific realism fail to accommodate such issues, and thus ultimately they do not provide an adequate account of scientific change. I then sketch, in terms of da Costa and French’s partial structures approach, an account of scientific change tha...

Quantum theory is a tremendously successful physical theory, but nevertheless suffers from two serious problems: the measurement problem and the problem of interpretational underdetermination. The latter, however, is largely overlooked as a genuine problem of its own. Both problems concern the doctrine of realism, but pull, quite curiously, into opposite directions. The measurement problem can ...