Clearing The Way For Realism
Maintaining that scientists see the same world but interpret it differently does not explain, according to some critics, scientific dispute. According to Fodor, however, the true point in discussion is not the question of understanding what distinguishes various theories from each other, but what it is that permits scientific consensus. His answer to this problem is that scientific consensus is indissolubly linked to the thesis of the independence of observation from theories. Despite the interpretative differences, scientists share perceptions that depend on their belonging to a species endowed with certain common cognitive-perceptual structures. The question is also important because it has repercussions on the plane of semantics and mental content.
Read more about this topic: Jerry Fodor On Mental Architecture
Famous quotes containing the words clearing the, clearing and/or realism:
“We should conserve evil just as we should conserve the forests. It is true that by thinning and clearing the forests the earth grew warmer.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“[Panurge] spent everything in a thousand little banquets and joyous feasts open to all comers, particularly jolly companions, young lasses, and delightful wenches, and in clearing his lands, burning the big logs to sell the ashes, taking money in advance, buying dear, selling cheap, and eating his wheat in the blade.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)
“The realism of failure, the romance of success.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)