SOCI 325 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Scientific Realism, Mendelian Inheritance, Geocentric Model
Document Summary
Hacking is one of the major proponents of scientific realism in sts. If you can spray them then they are real. The unobservable, abstract entities that science theorizes about can be real. An entity"s reality does not depend on direct observation. Not a statement that all theoretical entities are real. Can be realist about entities but not theories. Scientific theories about entities are either true or false. The truth or falsehood of a theory reflects an underlying, real world. Geocentrism, quantum theory, and mendelian inheritance are either true or false. Can be realist about theories but not entities. For an entity to be real it must have a material reality. Electrons are real because things can be made of them. For an entity to be real it would have effects on the world. Hacking: to say that a causes b, you need to say how a causes b.
