New article by Brad Wray: "Induction, Rationality, and the Realism/Anti-realism Debate: A Reply to Shech"
International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 34, issue 4, 243-247 (Published online: 27 Sep 2022)
Abstract
Shech (2022) offers a critical assessment of my defense of anti-realism, developed in Resisting Scientific Realism. Induction and inductive inferences play a central role in Shech’s critical analysis of my defense of realism. I argue that Shech’s criticisms that relate to induction and inductive inference are problematic, and do not constitute a threat to my defense of anti-realism. Contrary to what Shech claims, the anti-realist does not need to explain why inductive inferences are successful. That is not part of contemporary realism/anti-realism debate. Further, such a demand fails to recognize that some anti-realists do not put much stock in induction.