Scientific Entities: Real or Not?

Epistemic Realism and the Case of Scientific Entities

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What are things like electrons and gravity?

While most of us do not give these kinds of things much thought, in the philosophy of science, the nature of scientific discovery is a hotly debated subject. Some scientists and philosophers claim that things like electrons discovered by science are real. This position is called Epistemic Realism.

However, others argue that all science is capable of doing is showing that entities like electrons just make the math work out. In other words, we can show a kind of practical consistency but not that such things actually exist.

In this article, I will lay out an argument against Epistemic realism by (1941- ). I will conclude that regardless of the success of his argument, we must have a high standard for allowing new entities to be added to our concept of reality.

Argument against Epistemic Realism

Bas Van Fraassen’s presentation of the epistemic antirealist is the most condemning of the realist position. Van Fraassen grants realism about observable entities. However, he denies that one is warranted in believing in the existence of unobservable entities, whether they…