Course : Scientific Realism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Spring 2026)

Scientific theories typically refer to entities, processes, and structures that are not immediately obvious to human perception. By this means, evidently, they enable us to anticipate events beyond what we can immediately observe, and to develop the powers of prediction and manipulation of nature that we now consider commonplace. But what do the predictive and instrumental successes of science actually tell us about the nature of physical reality? Can we infer from the success of a theory, in this sense, that it is also true? Or that the entities, processes, and structures that it refers to really exist? On the one hand, it seems obvious that a successful theory must be at least approximately true. On the other hand, the history of science provides many examples of very successful theories that were eventually seen to be false, and therefore abandoned and replaced. This would suggest that the empirical and instrumental success of a theory is independent of its truth, and therefore of the reality of the objects that it describes.

This course will examine some of the most significant arguments on all sides of this issue, from ancient times to the present, from both philosophers and philosophically minded scientists. We will consider both general philosophical arguments, and specific examples from the sciences, in which realism regarding specific theories has been a matter of philosophical debate. (No particular scientific background is presupposed, but, where appropriate, scientific ideas will be introduced in an elementary and intuitive way.) Authors to be discussed will include Plato, Aristotle, Lucretius, Newton, Leibniz, Kant, Poincaré, Carnap, and Psillos.

Location: Library of HPS Dept (Tuesdays)

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New Building Seminar room 1 (Fridays)

1. Tuesday 12/5 16.00-18.00

2. Friday 15/5 16.00-18.00

3. Tuesday 19/5 16.00-18.00

4. Friday 22/5 16.00-18.00

5. Friday 29/5 16.00-18.00

6. Tuesday 2/6 16.00-18.00

7. Friday 5/6 16.00-18.00