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Scientific realism attempts to distinguish itself from naive realism through the use of provisional statements. Scientific realists disagree with constructivist epistemology and anti-realism.

Scientific realists evaluate the effectiveness of a theory by its success over time, and the theory contains an explanation as to why it works.

1 See also

• confirmation holism
• critical realism
• instrumentalism
• naive realism
• scientific materialism

2 References

Leplin, J. (1984). Scientific Realism. California: University of California Press.

Leplin, J. (1997). A Novel Defense of Scientific Realism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Polkinghorne, J. (1991). Reason and Reality. SPCK.