Scientific Structuralism

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Structural Realism: A Neo-Kantian Perspective

   • Michela Massimi

   Pages 1-23

3. In Defence of Ontic Structural Realism

   • Steven French, James Ladyman

   Pages 25-42

4. Structuralist Approaches to Physics: Objects, Models and Modality

   • Katherine Brading

   Pages 43-65

5. Mathematical Structural Realism

   • Christopher Pincock

   Pages 67-79

6. Structural Empiricism, Again

   • Otávio Bueno

   Pages 81-103

7. Structural Realism: Continuity and Its Limits

   • Ioannis Votsis

   Pages 105-117

8. Structuralism About Scientific Representation

   • Martin Thomson-Jones

   Pages 119-141

9. Ontic Structural Realism as a Metaphysics of Objects

   • Michael Esfeld, Vincent Lam

   Pages 143-159

10. Scientific Explanation and Scientific Structuralism

    • Mauro Dorato, Laura Felline

    Pages 161-176

11. Back Matter

    Pages 177-182

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Recently there has been a revival of interest in structuralist approaches to science. Taking their lead from scientific structuralists such as Henri Poincaré, Ernst Cassirer, and Bertrand Russell, some contemporary philosophers and scientists have argued that the most fruitful approach to solving many problems in the philosophy of science lies in focusing on the structural features of our scientific theories. Much of the work in scientific structuralism to date has been focused on the problem of scientific realism, where it has been argued that even in cases of radical theory change the most important structural features of predecessor theories are preserved. These structural realists argue that what our most successful theories get right about the world is these abstract structural features, rather than any particular ontological claims. More recently, philosophers of science have adopted structuralist approaches to many other issues in the philosophy of science, such as scientific explanation and intertheory relations. The nine articles collected in this volume, written by the leading researchers in scientific structuralism, represent some of the most important directions of research in this field. This book will be of particular interest to those philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians who are interested in the foundations of science.

• intertheoretic relations
• intertheoretic relations
• scientific structuralism
• scientific structuralism
• structural empiricism
• structural empiricism

“The main impression in reading Scientific Structuralism is that the most tenuous theme within the broad family of structuralist approaches is the status of scientific representation. … The book under review is perhaps the best place to get a genuine idea of how intensive the proliferation of approaches to the structural interpretation of science is.” (Dimitri Ginev, Erkenntnis, Vol. 80, 2015)

• Philosophy Department, Boston University, Boston, Afghanistan

  Alisa Bokulich

• Department of Philosophy, Boston University, Boston, USA

  Peter Bokulich

Policies and ethics