Samuel, Schindler (2016) Theoretical Fertility McMullin-style. [Preprint]
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Abstract
A theory’s fertility is one of the standard theoretical virtues. But how is it to be construed? In current philosophical discourse, particularly in the realism debate, theoretical fertility is usually understood in terms of novel success: a theory is fertile if it manages to make successful novel predictions. Another, more permissible, notion of fertility can be found in the work of Ernan McMullin. This kind of fertility, McMullin claims, gives us just as strong (or even stronger) grounds for realism. My paper critically assesses McMullin’s notion of fertility and its realist rationale. It concludes that McMullin’s preferred example, namely the fertile development of the Bohr-Sommerfeld model of the atom, does not support McMullin’s argument for realism. Although the implications for the realism debate are as of yet unclear, the case study offers some important methodological lessons.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | Preprint version. The final publication is available in the European Journal for Philosophy of Science at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13194-016-0150-4. | ||||||
| Keywords: | theoretical fertility, theoretical virtue, novel success, realism, idealization, positive heuristics, Bohr-Sommerfeld model | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism General Issues > Theory Change General Issues > Values In Science |
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| Depositing User: | Samuel Schindler | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 27 May 2016 18:55 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 09 Feb 2017 23:11 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 12114 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism General Issues > Theory Change General Issues > Values In Science |
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| Date: | June 2016 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12114 |
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