Varieties of Scientific Realism

Evandro Agazzi completed his studies in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Milan and in Physics at the State University of Milan. He became full professor in the Philosophy of Science at the University of Genoa in 1970 and also held the chair of Philosophical Anthropology, Philosophy of Nature, and Philosophy of Science at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland (1979–1998) and a chair in Philosophy in the Department of Humanities of the Autonomous Metropolitan University/Campus of Cuajimalpa, Mexico City (2009–2013). Professor Agazzi taught as a visiting professor at the Universities of Düsseldorf, Berne, Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Geneva, as well as at other universities for shorter periods. At present he is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Genoa and full Professor in the Department of Bioethics of Panamerican University, Mexico City. Professor Agazzi is President of the International Academy of Philosophy of Science (Brussels). He was also President, and is now Honorary President, of the International Federation of the Philosophical Societies (FISP), the International Institute of Philosophy (Paris). He has received many honors. He has been elected as a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2012) and the Mexican Academy of Sciences (2012). His publications include more than 70 books, of which he is the author and/or editor, and almost 1000 papers and articles, including contributions to books, anthologies, encyclopedias, and journals. He is the editor of Epistemologia, an Italian journal for the philosophy of science, and is a consulting editor for several international journals.

“The organization of the book is well thought out and user-friendly. The book is useful for newcomers to the field, since it helps to provide a sense of the diverse directions of the realism debate. It is also useful for the researchers, … discuss recent ideas in realism and provide a new impetus for further discussion.” (Raphael Kunstler, Lato Sensu, Vol. 06 (1), 2019)

• Introduction.- Prologue.- Mario Alai, “The Discussions on Scientific Realism Today: The Roles of Objectivity and Truth in Science”.- Evandro Agazzi, “The Truth of Theories and Scientific Realism”.- Realism and Anti-Realism.- Alan Musgrave, “Strict Empiricism versus Explanation in Science”.- Michel Ghins, “Scientific Realism: Representation, Objectivity and Truth”.- Marco Buzzoni, “Robustness and Scientific Realism”.- Thomas Nickles, The Temptations of Scientific Realism: Cognitive Illusions, Objections, and Replies”.- Gerhard Vollmer, “Why do Theories Fail? An argument for realism”.- Recent Conceptions of Scientific Realism.- Stathis Psillos, “Scientific Realism and the neo-Aristotelian Conception of Nature”.- James Ladyman, “On Structural Realism”.- Steven French, “Realism and the Toolbox of Metaphysics”.- Craig Dilworth, “The Perspectivist View of Science and Scientific Realism”.- Scientific Realism in Empirical Science.- Dennis Dieks, “Realism and Objectivity in Quantum Mechanics”.- Roland Omnés, “Interpreting Quantum Mechanics Anew”.- Jean Guy Menuier, “Objectivity in Cognitive Sciences: The Impact of Computational Models”.- Amparo Gomez, “Mechanisms, Capacities, and Entity Realism in Social Sciences”.- Vladislav Lektorski, “Realism as the Methodological Strategy in Cognitive Science”.- Mathematics, Objectivity, and Truth.- Gerhard Heinzmann, “The Problem of Objectivity in Mathematics”.- Reinhard Kahle, “Mathematical Truth Revisited”.- Jean Petitot, “Conceptual Analysis and Computational Synthesis in Mathematical Physics”.- Objectivity and Truth.- Jan Wolenski, “The semantic definition of Truth and Empirical Theories”.- Fabio Minazzi, “The Epistemological Problem of the Objectivity of Knowledge”.- Hans Lenk, “A Scheme-Interpretationist Actionistic Realism”.- Alberto Cordero, “Retention, Truth-Content and Selective Realism”.- Subject Index.- Index of Names.