Card 6.8.2 · Root VI — The Philosophy of X Family
Scientific Realism
Do electrons exist, or do they just work?
This node asks whether successful scientific theories are true — in particular whether the unobservable entities they describe actually exist.
Where it sits
Under 6.8 Philosophy of science. Borders 1.1 Ontology, 2.5 Truth, 6.11 Philosophy of physics.
The rival answers
| Position | Claim |
|---|---|
| Scientific realism | Mature theories are approximately true; their entities exist |
| Constructive empiricism | Theories aim at empirical adequacy; belief in unobservables is optional |
| Instrumentalism | Theories are tools; truth is not the relevant standard |
| Structural realism | What theories get right is structure, not the nature of entities |
| Entity realism | We can be confident in entities we manipulate, less so in theories about them |
Key figures
| Figure | Dates | Tradition | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilary Putnam | 1926–2016 | Analytic | The no-miracles argument |
| Larry Laudan | 1941–2022 | Analytic | The pessimistic meta-induction |
| Bas van Fraassen | b. 1941 | Analytic | Constructive empiricism |
| Ian Hacking | 1936–2023 | Canadian | Entity realism; if you can spray them, they are real |
Connections
→ 6.8 · ↔ 1.1, 2.5, 6.11, 6.8.3 · ◇ scientific realism, instrumentalism, structural realism, entity realism · ○ Modern; Tables 1 and 3
→ narrower questions · ↔ questions it borders · ◇ the positions, mapped in Part III of the book · ○ the eras and comparison tables (Parts IV and V)
The full card is in the book
In The Coordinates of Thought this card goes on to a worked example that sets the answers against one case, and to where the question touches daily life — page 278.
On Coordinates of Thought
Conversations about this question in Scientific method:
- Falsifiability is not a good criterion for what counts as science 6 replies
- A model can work for decades without being true, and instrumentalism is the honest response 6 replies
- A correlation explains nothing until someone shows the mechanism 6 replies
- Saving a theory with an auxiliary hypothesis is often exactly the right move 6 replies
- Objectivity belongs to scientific communities, not to individual scientists 6 replies