small-e empiricism
John D. Norton
A leading philosopher of science defends the everyday empiricism of working scientists against the skeptical constructive empiricism of van Fraassen. A complete, up-to-date book from 2026.
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A Case for Old-Fashioned Observability, and a Reconstructed Constructive EmpiricismChang proposes a quality-based idea of observability and uses it to rebuild van Fraassen's constructive empiricism. A short, original contribution to the realism debate.
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Proposes a reconstructed version of van Fraassen's constructive empiricism that keeps its spirit while fixing its weak points. Key reading for the realism debate.
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Can we know what is possible or necessary from experience alone? This paper defends modal empiricism against the challenge facing mind-independent accounts of modality.
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A clear introduction to the scientific realism debate: does science describe unobservable reality, or only what we can observe? The empiricist side gets a fair and readable hearing.
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