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person1960s-present

Bas van Fraassen

Disciplines:
epistemology
philosophy of science
philosophy of science/philosophy of physics

Summary

Dutch-American philosopher of science who developed constructive empiricism — science aims at empirical adequacy, not truth about unobservable entities — challenging scientific realism.

Core Contribution

Constructive empiricism: a theory is empirically adequate if what it says about observable things is true; scientists need not believe that unobservable entities (electrons, quarks) exist — belief is appropriate only for observable phenomena. The pragmatics of explanation: explanation is not a feature of theories but of theory use in contexts.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Constructive empiricism is the most sophisticated anti-realist position in philosophy of science — unlike instrumentalism (theories are mere tools) it grants that theories can be true or false, but recommends agnosticism about unobservables.
  • His pragmatic theory of explanation: asking for an explanation is always asking 'why P rather than Q?' — the contrast class Q is always implicit and context-dependent; there is no context-independent fact about what explains what.
  • Defends an unusual epistemological voluntarism: it is epistemically permissible to believe more than the evidence strictly requires — you are not irrational to be a scientific realist; you are just more adventurous.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Scientific Image

Laws and Symmetry

Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View

The Empirical Stance

Historical Influences

Ernst Mach Patrick Suppes

Intellectual Lineage

Logical Empiricism Analytic Philosophy of Science

Contemporaries & Peers

Wesley Salmon Clark Glymour

Minds Influenced

Arthur FinePhilosophy of Physics

Intellectual Posterity

Constructive EmpiricismAnti-realism in Philosophy of Science

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