Structural realism as a form of humility

Angelo Cei

pp. 35-45

in: Mauricio Surez, Mauro Dorato, Miklós Rédei (eds), Epsa epistemology and methodology of science, Berlin, Springer, 2010

Abstract

I find the notion of structure of currently debated Epistemic Structural Realism (ESR) ambiguous. I show that the disambiguation leads to two views of structure ESR₁ and ESR₂. Only ESR₂ can be seen as asserting that structure is a set of relevant relations usually captured in physics by equations. I indicate that such view needs an argument in principle to explain why structure is epistemically prior. I show that Ramsey Sentences play a role in establishing such an argument and identify the ultimate argument in the thesis of Kantian Humility.

Cited authors

Kant Immanuel