?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Structures+and+structural+realism&rft.creator=Krause%2C+D%C3%A9cio&rft.subject=Realism%2FAnti-realism&rft.description=The+'ontic'+form+of+structural+realism+(OSR)%2C+roughly+speaking%2C+aims+at+a+complete+elimination+of+objects+of+the+discourse+of+scientific+theories%2C+leaving+us+with+structures+only.+As+put+by+the+defenders+of+such+a+claim%2C+the+idea+is+that+all+there+is+are+structures+and%2C+if+the+relevant+structures+are+to+be+set+theoretical+constructs%2C+as+it+has+also+been+claimed%2C+then+the+relations+which+appear+in+such+structures+should+be+taken+to+be+'relations+without+the+relata'.+As+far+as+we+know%2C+there+is+not+a+definition+of+structure+in+standard+mathematics+which+fits+their+intuitions%2C+and+even+category+theory+seems+do+not+correspond+adequately+to+the+OSR+claims.+Since+OSR+is+also+linked+to+the+semantic+approach+to+theories%2C+the+structures+to+be+dealt+with+are+(at+least+in+principle)+to+be+taken+as+set+theoretical+constructs.+But+these+are+'relational'+structures+where+the+involved+relations+are+built+from+basic+objects+(in+short%2C+the+rank+of+the+relation+is+greater+than+the+rank+of+the+relata)%2C+and+so+no+elimination+of+the+relata+is+possible%2C+although+it+would+be+interesting+for+characterizing+OSR.+In+this+paper+we+present+a+definition+of+a+relation+which+does+not+depend+on+the+particular+objects+being+related+in+the+sense+that+the+'relation'+continues+to+hold+even+if+the+relata+are+exchanged+by+other+suitable+ones.+Although+there+is+not+a+'complete'+elimination+of+the+relata%2C+there+is+an+elimination+of+'particular'+relata%2C+and+so+our+definition+might+be+viewed+as+an+alternative+way+of+finding+adequate+mathematical+'set-theoretical'+frameworks+for+describing+at+least+some+of+the+intuitions+regarding+OSR.&rft.date=2003-12&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fphilsci-archive.pitt.edu%2F1558%2F1%2FOnticReal2004.pdf&rft.identifier=Krause%2C+D%C3%A9cio+(2003)+Structures+and+structural+realism.+[Preprint]&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fphilsci-archive.pitt.edu%2F1558%2