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      Key Positions in the Contemporary Scientific Realism/Antirealism Debate

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          Abstract

          In this chapter, I survey key positions in the scientific realism/antirealism debate in contemporary philosophy of science. The first is a selective realist position, which is known as Explanationist Realism, according to which we should believe only in the indispensable parts of our best scientific theories. Those parts that are considered indispensable, the so-called “working posits” (Kitcher, The advancement of science: Science without legend, objectivity without illusions. Oxford University Press, New York, 1993), are the ones that are responsible for, or best explain, the predictive success of our best scientific theories (Psillos , Scientific realism: how science tracks truth. Routledge, London, 1999). The second is an antirealist position with a long history in philosophy of science (see, for example, Duhem, The aim and structure of physical theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Translated from the French by Philip P. Wiener, 1954/1982) , known as Instrumentalism, according to which scientific theories are mere instruments or tools of prediction (Rowbottom, The instrument of science: scientific anti-realism revitalised. Routledge, London, 2019). The third is an influential antirealist position, which is known as Constructive Empiricism and is due to Bas van Fraassen (The scientific image. Oxford University Press, New York, 1980), according to which science aims at empirical adequacy, not truth or approximate truth. The fourth is another influential realist position, which is known as Entity Realism and is due to Ian Hacking (Representing and intervening: introductory topics in the philosophy of natural science. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1983), according to which one is justified in taking a realist stance with respect to entities that can be manipulated and that facilitate interventions in nature (Sankey, Howard, Scientific realism and the rationality of science. Ashgate, Hampshire, 2008). The fifth is another selective realist position, which is known as Structural Realism, according to which we should be realists, not about theoretical entities or processes, but rather about structures (Worrall, Dialectica 43(1–2):99–124, 1989; Ladyman, Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. A 29(3):409–424, 1998; French, The structure of the world: metaphysics and representation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014) .

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          Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

          On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21). It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160)  Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.
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            Structural Realism: The Best of Both Worlds?

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              What is structural realism?

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                mmizrahi@fit.edu
                Journal
                978-3-030-58047-6
                10.1007/978-3-030-58047-6
                The Relativity of Theory
                The Relativity of Theory
                Key Positions and Arguments in the Contemporary Scientific Realism/Antirealism Debate
                978-3-030-58046-9
                978-3-030-58047-6
                30 September 2020
                2020
                : 431
                : 35-49
                Affiliations
                GRID grid.255966.b, ISNI 0000 0001 2229 7296, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts, , Florida Institute of Technology, ; Melbourne, FL USA
                Article
                3
                10.1007/978-3-030-58047-6_3
                7971997
                abf30b6f-b095-48f2-9d94-66e4a11bed73
                © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

                This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

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                © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

                belief/acceptance distinction,constructive empiricism, empirical adequacy, empirical success, entity realism,epistemic structural realism (esr), explanationist realism (also known as deployment realism), instrumentalism,observation/detection distinction,ontic structural realism (osr), predictive success, structural realism,working posits/idle parts distinction

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