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(In)effective realism?
1School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds, Leeds, England.
European Journal for Philosophy of Science
|May 2, 2022
Summary
This study critiques Matthias Egg's "effective realism," arguing it is too inclusive by examining its application to Newtonian and quantum mechanics. The research suggests a need for more precise ontological commitments in scientific realism.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Science
- Quantum Mechanics
- Classical Mechanics
Background:
- Scientific realism faces challenges reconciling with quantum mechanics' underdetermination.
- Matthias Egg (2021) proposed 'effective realism' to address this by focusing on effective ontology.
- The concept of 'effective ontology' aims to reconcile scientific realism with quantum mechanics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate Matthias Egg's proposed 'effective realism'.
- To demonstrate that 'effective realism' is ontologically overly promiscuous.
- To illustrate the ontological issues using examples from Newtonian and quantum mechanics.
Main Methods:
- General philosophical argumentation.
- Conceptual analysis of 'effective ontology'.
- Application of critique to established physical theories (Newtonian and quantum mechanics).
Main Results:
- Egg's 'effective realism' is shown to be ontologically promiscuous.
- The proposed reconciliation of scientific realism with quantum mechanics via 'effective ontology' is found problematic.
- The critique is illustrated through specific examples in both classical and quantum physics.
Conclusions:
- 'Effective realism' as currently formulated is ontologically too permissive.
- Reconciling scientific realism with quantum mechanics requires a more constrained ontological approach.
- Further refinement of realist commitments is necessary to adequately address foundational issues in physics.
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