A Realistic Theory of Science 0887063152, 0887063160

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A Realistic Theory of Science

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A Realistic Theory of Science C.A.

HOOKER

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 1987 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12246 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hooker, C.A. (Clifford Alan), 1942A realistic theory of science. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Science-Philosophy. 2. Realism. I. Title. 501 1986 86-19169 Q175.H787 ISBN 0-88706-315-2 ISBN 0-88706-316-0 (pbk.) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Acknowledgments Preface CHAPTER CHAPTER

.,,r· CHAPTER

CHAPTER

1

1. Statement

2. Systematic Realism 3. Philosophy and Meta-Philosophy of Science: Empiricism, Popperianism and Realism

4. On Global Theories

CHAPTER

5. Methodology and Systematic Philosophy

CHAPTER

6. Surface Dazzle, Ghostly Depths: An Exposition

and Critical Evaluation of van Fraassen's Vindication of Empiricism Against Realism

�CHAPTER

7. Understanding and Control: An Essay on the

,.,CHAPTER

8. Evolutionary Naturalist Realism: Circa 1985

,/

vii

Structural Dynamics of Human Cognition

Notes Bibi iography Index of Names Subject Index

3

7

61 109 139 155 191 255 359 441 469 475

Permissions

Six of the eight essays in this volume have first appeared elsewhere in print. Permission to reprint these essays here is gratefully acknowl­ edged. "Systematic Realism", Synthese, Vol. 26, Nos. 3-4, pp.409-497. Copyright 1974 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Hol­ land. "Philosophy and Meta-philosophy of Science: Empiricism, Popper­ ianism and Realism", Synthese, Vol. 32, Nos. 102, pp.177-231. Copyright 1975 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Hol­ land. "On Global Theories", Philosophy of Science 42 (1975), 152-179. Re­ printed with permission of the Philosophy of Science Association. "Methodology and Systematic Philosophy", Basic Problems in Meth­ odology & Linguistics, Butts, R. E./Hintikka, J. (eds), pp.3-23. Copy­ right 1976 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Drodrecht, Holland. "Surface Dazzle, Ghostly Depths: An Exposition and Critical Evalu­ ation of van Fraassen's V indication of Empiricism Against Real­ ism", Images of Science, Churchland, P. M./Hooker, C. A. (eds), pp.153-196. Copyright 1985 by University of Chicago Press, Chica­ go, U.S.A. "Understanding and Control: An Essay on the Structural Dynamics of Human Cognition", Man-Environment Systems, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp.121-160. Reprinted with permission of the editor, Man-Environ­ ment Systems, A. H. Esser, and The Association for the Study of Man-Environment Relations, Inc.

Acknowledgments

Where to begin? If I have been able to see even as far as some others it is because I have been tottering about on the chests of giants . . . (Apologies to Swift and Newton.) My debts are enormous. Some of the larger intellectual ones are acknowledged in "Statement". The reader may judge my debts to others by their occurrence in Notes. (I am particularly indebted to those I criticise.) I have a wonderful family (mother-in-law included) whom I love very much. They accept the egocentric disruption of book manuscript deadlines as part of my job and compensate accordingly. This is a major personal contribution. (Thanks to daughter Claire and son Giles for hours of editing.) Particular thanks to Patrick Heelan for his encouragement of this publishing project. My largest specific person­ al debt is to my secretary, Mrs. Dorrit Nesmith. Her unfailing calm and graciousness smoothed the thorny path to production. Her intel­ ligent and slightly bemused distance from my myopic flurries straightened the uneven path to production. And her capacity to force a recalcitrant computer to disgorge clean manuscript just hours after I submitted scrambled scribble can only be described as miraculous (well . . . marvellous, anyway). She specifically denies responsibility for barbarisms and other idiosyncracies of style, but the speling is all hirs.

vii

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To all those referred to in the Acknowledgment. And to Canada for 12 good years.

Preface

To scientists, lay-persons and philosophers-of-other-stripes: The essay "Un­ derstanding and Control" gives the widest review of my views and is largely nontechnical; I recommend you read Chapter 7 first. Parts 8.2 and 8.3 of "Evolutionary Naturalist Realism" offer a broad overview of my version of realism in particular and I suggest reading this next. Thereafter you will be in a good position to pursue issues of interest into the remaining text. To philosophers-of-science: The essays appear in their chronological order, with minimal retrospective editing. One approach is to foUow the temporal development of ideas. For those who have other prefer­ ences I offer the following remarks. The structural work (the "arche­ tectonic") is focused at "Philosophy and Meta-Philosophy of Science" and "Evolutionary Naturalist Realism," Section 8.2. The remaining essay material is largely concerned with developing specific doctrines. However defense is found throughout, see especially "Systematic Realism, " Section 2.4, "Surface Dazzle, Ghostly Depths," Sections 6.4 to 6.6 and "Evolutionary Naturalist Realism," Section 8.4. To all and sundry (especially students): I employ (or perhaps deploy) end notes, properly speaking, not footnotes. These are often substan­ tial and are in pursuit of twin aims: ( 1) to move out from the text into the wider tapestry of issues, often attacking and qualifying as I go, while keeping the text relatively more straightforward and (2) to pro­ vide a reading background so that various themes, side issues and debates can be followed up if desired. "Systematic Philosophy and Meta-Philosophy of Science," "Understanding and Control" and "Evolutionary Naturalist Realism" particularly aim to provide con­ necting tissue and background. 1

CHAPTER

1

Statement The reader will find no definitive claims herein, no finished doctrines, only a set of open conjectures. Contributions and refutations are welcome. In writing these essays I have had three purposes or goals in mind: (1) To capture something of the real complexity and counterintuitive­ ness of science/technology as it actually is. Here truth is often stranger than philosophical fiction. (2) To contribute to understanding the his­ torical transformation of science/technology and provide a framework within which the complex science/society interrelations may be ap­ proached. (3) To state and defend a doctrine of scientific realism ade­ quate to (1) and (2). There is no sense to a strict priority ordering among the three goals just stated, for work toward any one of them interacts with that toward the others. I regard each as valuable. That is why, though the bulk of the words in this book perhaps directly concern goal (3), Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 are two of the most important essays in the book. My earliest education was in physics. Here I was taught a resp�