Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
7551631 Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 2016 9 Pages PDF
Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to test structural realism against (one example from) the historical record. I begin by laying out an existing challenge to structural realism - that of providing an example of a theory exhibiting successful structures that were abandoned - and show that this challenge can be met by the miasma theory of disease. However, rather than concluding that this is an outright counterexample to structural realism, I use this case to show why it is that structural realism, in its current form, has trouble dealing with theories outside physics. I end by making some concrete suggestions for structural realists to pursue if, indeed, they are serious about extending structural realism to other domains.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities Arts and Humanities History
Authors
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