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How to be a scientific realist: a normative-pragmatist proposal
1Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
|March 30, 2026
Summary
This study reframes the scientific realism debate, focusing on authority and agent-first pragmatist strategies. It argues that recognizing authority determines how we approach scientific concepts like dark matter.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Science
- Cosmology
- Theoretical Physics
Background:
- The ongoing debate between scientific realism and anti-realism.
- The specific challenge of interpreting entities like dark matter within scientific theories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel articulation of the scientific realism vs. anti-realism debate.
- To defend a normative and pragmatist framework for understanding this debate.
- To analyze the domain-specific implementation of pragmatist strategies for scientific concepts.
Main Methods:
- Articulating the debate in normative terms, focusing on authority.
- Employing pragmatist strategies, defined as agent-first approaches.
- Examining the domain-specific nature of implementing these strategies for scientific vocabulary.
Main Results:
- The debate is best understood through questions of authority and normativity.
- Pragmatist, agent-first strategies are crucial for defending positions.
- The application of these strategies is contingent on agent-defined authoritative sources.
Conclusions:
- The proposed articulation is extensionally adequate, preserving the status of existing realist and anti-realist positions.
- This framework offers a new perspective on the interpretation of scientific concepts, including dark matter.
- Understanding scientific authority is key to navigating realism debates.
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