Knowra Instrumentalism Instrumentalism Instrumentalism judges theories primarily by how well they predict or organize observations, rather than by whether their unobservable entities or claims are literally true.
Scientific realism : The view that successful scientific theories give approximately true accounts of both observable and unobservable reality. It treats theories as descriptions of reality, where instrumentalism emphasizes predictive and organizational success.
Scientific theory : A structured set of principles used to explain, predict, and organize phenomena. Instrumentalism evaluates theories as tools for handling observations.
Ancient Greek astronomy : The study of celestial motions developed by Greek thinkers from antiquity through the Hellenistic period. Astronomical models were sometimes treated as calculation devices without claims about physical reality.
Scientific modeling : The construction and use of simplified representations to investigate, explain, or predict features of the world. Instrumentalism naturally evaluates models by what they enable scientists to calculate and organize.
No miracles argument : The argument that the predictive success of science would be inexplicable unless its theories were at least approximately true. It challenges the instrumentalist separation of predictive success from truth about unobservables.
Constructive empiricism : Bas van Fraassen’s view that science aims at empirically adequate theories, without requiring belief in their unobservable entities. It shares restraint about unobservables but makes empirical adequacy, rather than usefulness, the central standard.
Observation : The acquisition of information about phenomena through perception or measurement. Observations provide the outcomes theories are expected to organize or predict.
Ptolemaic system : An Earth-centered model of the cosmos that represented planetary motions with deferents, epicycles, and related devices. Its mathematical machinery became a prominent case in debates over whether models describe or merely save appearances.
Idealization : The deliberate simplification or distortion of features of a system in a model or theory. Instrumentalists can value idealizations for useful results without treating them as literal descriptions.
Pessimistic induction : An argument from the history of science that many successful past theories were later rejected, casting doubt on realism about current theories. It supports caution about treating successful predictions as evidence that theories describe reality.
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