This paper defends scientific realism, the doctrine that we should interpret theories as being just as ontologically committing as beliefs at the observational level. I examine the character of observation to show that the difference in interpretation suggested by anti-realists is unwarranted. Second, I discuss Wilfrid Sellars' approach to the issue. Finally, I provide a detailed study of recent work by Bas van Fraassen. While van Fraassen's work is the focus of the paper, the conclusions are far broader: That a wide family of anti-realist views (of which van Fraassen's is only one) is problematic and unmotivated and hence to be rejected.
Synthese spans the topics of Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science. Coverage includes the theory of knowledge; general methodological problems of science, of induction and probability, of causation and the role of mathematics, statistics and logic in science; and the methodological and foundational problems of different sciences. The journal explores symbolic logic and foundations of mathematics relevant to the philosophy and methodology of science; and those facets of the ethics, history and sociology of science which are important for contemporary topical pursuits. The journal focuses on the role of mathematical, logical and linguistic methods in the general methodology of science and the foundations of different sciences. The journal includes a section on Knowledge, Rationality and Action as a platform for researchers. The scope of Knowledge, Rationality and Action is interdisciplinary: it will be of interest to researchers in the fields of artificial intelligence, agents, computer science, knowledge representation, game theory, economics, logic, philosophy, mathematics, cognitive science, cryptography, and auction theory, as well as to application specialists using formal and mathematical methods and tools.
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Synthese