Science, Common Sense and Reality
In J. E. Ford (ed.), The Ontic Return: The Current Epochal Shift from Meaning to Being. Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming)
| Abstract | This paper presents a response to the question of the relationship between science and reality. It rejects the anti-realist claim that we are unable to acquire knowledge of reality in favour of the realist view that science yields knowledge of the external world. But what world is that? Some argue that science leads to the overthrow of our commonsense view of the world. Common sense is “stone-age metaphysics” to be rejected as the false theory of our primitive ancestors. Against such eliminativists about common sense, it is argued that science both preserves and explains commonsense experience of the world. Though science may lead to the overthrow of deeply held beliefs, common sense reflects a more basic and durable level of experience. Commonsense beliefs are well-confirmed beliefs which are vindicated by their role in successful practical action each and every day. Common sense provides a firm basis on which to establish the realist approach to science. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Scientific realism common sense | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,679 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesMichael De Medeiros (2010). Common Sense. Weigl Publishers.
Matthew Nudds (2001). Common-Sense and Scientific Psychology. Croatian Journal of Philosophy 1 (2):171-180.
Bradley Monton (2010). Common-Sense Realism and the Unimaginable Otherness of Science. Principia 11 (2):117-126-.
David Thomas (1978). Sociology and Common Sense. Inquiry 21 (1-4):1 – 32.
Howard Sankey (2001). Scientific Realism: An Elaboration and a Defence. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory 98 (98):35-54.
Barry Smith (1995). Common Sense. In The Cambridge Companion to Husserl. New York: Cambridge University Press.
James W. Cornman (1975). Perception, Common Sense And Science. Yale University Press.
Common Sense (1995). Barry Smith. In Barry Smith & David W. Smith (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Husserl. Cambridge University Press.
Bas C. van Fraassen (2003). On McMullin's Appreciation of Realism Concerning the Sciences. Philosophy of Science 70 (3):479-492.
Bas C. van Fraassen (2003). On McMullin's Appreciation of Realism Concerning the Sciences. Philosophy of Science 70 (3):479-492.
Renia Gasparatou (2009). Moore and Wittgenstein on Common Sense. Philosophical Inquiry 31 (3-4):65-75.
Daniel A. Kaufman de Gaynesford (2002). Reality in Common Sense: Reflections on Realism and Anti-Realism From a 'Common Sense Naturalist' Perspective. Philosophical Investigations 25 (4):331–361.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-10-26Total downloads57 ( #17,333 of 549,090 )Recent downloads (6 months)4 ( #19,228 of 549,090 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
