The Scientific Image (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

The Scientific Image (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

In this book van Fraassen develops an alternative to scientific realism by constructing and evaluating three mutually reinforcing theories. "An excellent extreé to the current debates on this topic, as seen by van Fraassenn who is probably the most direct and severe opponent of scientific realism."-- Review of Metaphysics "A most useful and stimulating book. It brings together some of the main strands in the 'dialectic' of post-positivist analytic philosophy, and moreover, it does this with lucidity, charm, erudition, and great intelligence....Would make an excellent text for a middle to upper-level course in contemporary philosophy of science."-- Journal of Philosophy "Would make an excellent introduction to the philosophical issues clustering around scientific realism for undergraduates if set in conjunction with the recent realist literature. "Important not only for its contributions to special topics such as the theory of explanation and the use of probability, but important also for its detailed and sustained critique of scientific realism."-- Philosophy of Science Bas. C. van Fraassen is at Princeton University.