This article defends the thesis that Putnam’s theory of the use of empirical concepts constitutes a continuous backbone of his philosophy early and late. Thus, Putnam’s theory of empirical concepts should be at least compatible with the most distinctive features of both, his realism (viz., semantic externalism) and his pragmatism (viz., conceptual pluralism). The article suggests the even stron...

Life is plural and diverse, biodiverse. This reality has always provoked philosophy, the sciences, and also theology. But how does theological thinking reflect on this eco-human diversity? What about religious diversity? Are diversity and pluralism the same phenomenon? These questions express the aim of this article: to reflect on theology in the face of diversity and pluralism. With the method...

Introduction Besides environmental sociology, many other sciences investigate the complex relations between society and nature. Numerous discipline-based and interdisciplinary research approaches, theoretical concepts and definitions of research objects compete and coexist with one another. For some, this situation indicates a diversity of perspectives appropriate to the complexity of the resea...

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Explanatory pluralism holds that the sorts of comprehensive theoretical and ontological economies, which microreductionists and New Wave reductionists envision and which antireductionists fear, offer misleading views of both scientific practice and scientific progress. Both advocates and foes of employing reductionist strategies at the interface of psychology and neuroscience have overplayed th...

The book is divided into three parts: I. ‘Cynical Myths’, II. ‘False Theories’ and III. ‘Why Truth matters’. Part I offers a diagnosis and criticism of views that naturally lead to cynicism with respect to truth: (a) the view that truth is unattainable, (b) the view that truth is relative, and (c) the view that falsehood is often more useful than truth. Part II offers a critique of prominent th...