RT info:eu-repo/semantics/bookPart
T1 Scientific activity as an interpretative practice. Empiricism, constructivism and pragmatism
A1 Perdomo Reyes, María Inmaculada
A2 Instituto Universitario de Estudios de las Mujeres (IUEM)
K1 Scientific representation
K1 Constructive empiricism
K1 Empiricist structuralism
K1 Interpretation of scientific activity
K1 Pragmatism
AB Since the publication of  The Scientifi c Image  and earlier works Bas C. van Fraassen has defended his constructive empiricism as the most appropriate philosophical interpretation of scientifi c activity in critical open dialogue with realisms (both old and new) and instrumentalisms. A new impetus was added to the debate by the publication of his most recent book,  Scientifi c Representation , in which he qualifi es some of his basic suppositions and proposes a new name for his empiricism:  empiricist structuralism . In this paper I argue in line with his thesis that if philosophy of science aims to offer a specifi c view and an adequate interpretation of science, the starting point should be a recognition of the complexity of the dialectic process between theoretical construction and data generation, processing and laboratory analysis procedures; also a recognition of the central role of subjects as interpreters in designing and using scientifi c representations. I also argue that the  family resemblance  which exists between the constructivist/structuralist empiricism and American pragmatism suggests new avenues for analysing the decision-making process and the role played by subjects who interpret, construct or use models in scientifi c contexts. A connexion with the pragmatists’ thesis and perspective that is very much present, not only in van Fraassen’s most recent texts on scientifi c representation, as some other authors maintain, but also from the outset in his earliest publications.
PB Springer Science+Business Media
YR 2014
FD 2014
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/35194
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/35194
LA Inglés
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 24-nov-2024