Experimental individuation and philosophical retail arguments

Chen, Ruey-Lin; Hricko, Jonathon

doi:10.1007/s11229-019-02207-8

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…398-399), for example, claims that "the only workable criterion of reality" is "the explanatory criterion: something is real if its positing plays an indispensable role in the explanation of well-founded phenomena." Other philosophers propose criteria while admitting that there may be multiple workable criteria of reality (Eronen, 2019(Eronen, , p. 2345Chen andHricko, 2021, p. 2314). For such philosophers, different criteria are appropriate for different cases, and the satisfaction of any appropriate criterion of reality justifies belief in the existence of a hypothesized entity.…”

Section: Our Approach To the Scientific Realism Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…256-257;Chakravartty, 2007, p. 31), and whether there ought to be just one criterion or multiple criteria (Psillos, 2005, pp. 398-399;Eronen, 2019Eronen, , p. 2345Chen andHricko, 2021, p. 2314).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Globalists attempt to answer the central questions of the debate by arguing for conclusions regarding our best theories in general, the claims they make, and the entities they posit (Worrall, 1989;Psillos, 1999Psillos, , 2005Ladyman and Ross, 2007;Harker, 2013;Peters, 2014). In contrast, localists attempt to answer such questions on a case-by-case basis by examining the first-order evidence for particular theories, claims, and entities (Achinstein, 2002;Magnus and Callender, 2004;Saatsi, 2010Saatsi, , 2017Fitzpatrick, 2013;Park, 2016;Asay, 2019;Chen and Hricko, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The globalists cited above all take a theory-centric approach. In contrast, for those who take an experiment-based approach, the central questions of the debate concern such issues as whether particular experimental results warrant belief in various theories, theoretical claims, and/or entities (Cartwright, 1983;Hacking, 1983;Eronen, 2019;Chen and Hricko, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental criteria for accessing reality: Perrin’s experimental demonstration of atoms and molecules

Chen

Hricko

2023

Euro Jnl Phil Sci

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This paper develops an approach to the scientific realism debate that has three main features. First, our approach admits multiple criteria of reality, i.e., criteria that, if satisfied, warrant belief in the reality of hypothetical entities. Second, our approach is experiment-based in the sense that it focuses on criteria that are satisfied by experiments as opposed to theories. Third, our approach is local in the sense that it focuses on the reality of particular kinds of entities. We apply this approach to a case that many philosophers have debated, namely, Jean Perrin's work on atoms and molecules. We provide a novel account by arguing that Perrin's work warranted a minimal belief in the reality of atoms and molecules as unobservable, discrete particles by satisfying a criterion of reality that we call experimental determination of number per unit. By doing so, he confirmed Avogadro's hypothesis, but he did not confirm other key constituents of the atomic theories involved. We argue that our account of Perrin's work is preferable to several other accounts, and we use this as a reason in support of our approach to the realism debate more generally.

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Section: Our Approach To the Scientific Realism Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%