“Instrumentalism” and “Realism” as Categories in the History of Astronomy: Duhem vs. Popper, Maimonides vs. Gersonides

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Contents VII
3. Introduction 1
4. Hypothesis in Early Modern Science 7
5. Experience and Hypotheses: Opinions within Locke’s Realm 39
6. Hypotheses in 19th Century British Philosophy of Science: Herschel, Whewell, Mill 59
7. From Axioms to Conventions and Hypotheses: The Foundations of Mechanics and the Roots of Carl Neumann’s “Principles of the Galilean–Newtonian Theory” 77
8. Contingent Laws of Nature in Émile Boutroux 99
9. Pluralism and the Hypothetical in Heinrich Hertz’s Philosophy of Science 145
10. Hypotheses and Conventions in Poincaré 169
11. Hypothesis and Convention in Poincaré’s Defense of Galilei Spacetime 193
12. Vaihinger and Poincaré: An Original Pragmatism? 221
13. Werner Heisenberg’s Position on a Hypothetical Conception of Science 251
14. “Instrumentalism” and “Realism” as Categories in the History of Astronomy: Duhem vs. Popper, Maimonides vs. Gersonides 269
15. Hypotheticity and Realism – Duhem, Popper and Scientific Realism 295
16. The Hypothesis of Reality and the Reality of Hypotheses 313
17. Hypothetical Metaphysics of Nature 341
18. Backmatter 365