Duhem and Scientific Realism
Subject Areas : Philosophy
1 - ندارد
Keywords: the aim and structure of physi, natural
, 
, classification, history of science, realism, instrumentalism,
Abstract :
Duhem’s viewpoint about physics is a systematic and mathematical onethat surely somehow has effected to his philosophical explanation ofscientific theories. For Duhem, the aim of science is classifying thephenomena in a good mathematical frame in which it could identify thereal relationships among the theoretical identities without manifestingthem. Theories are not only full boxes of phenomena classified toolsthat are proper for today and improper for tomorrow. The mostimportant characteristic of a scientific theory is to predict phenomenaand experimental laws that is not discovered, but what is effective inthis novel predict is the relationship between identities. In the view ofontology, scientific theories make no commitment for theoreticalidentities. In spite that Duhem is a scientific historian, and by searchingin his works and ideas we can’t clearly say Duhem is the realist or theinstrumenalist about scientific theories. Even some believe that he istried to find a way between realism and instumentalism. In this paper,at first Duhem ideas about the aim and structure of physical theory willbe surveyed. Then by some pro and opponent ideas with Duhem'srealism we will demonstrate his ideas about scientific theories has moretendencies to structure realism.
