Abstract

SOTO, CRISTIAN. ¿What is the metaphysics of science?. discus.filos [online]. 2017, vol.18, n.31, pp.87-105. ISSN 0124-6127.  https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2017.18.31.6.

This article addresses the question of what the metaphysics of science is. The fact that this discipline positively contributes to the articulation of our scientifi c conception of reality is defended. After characterizing the interaction between science and metaphysics (section 1), four constructions of the metaphysics of science are analyzed: radical metaphysical maximalism, which maintains that metaphysics makes science possible (section 2); moderate metaphysical maximalism, which suggests that science is unavoidably metaphysical given its interests in unobservable entities (section 3); moderate metaphysical minimalism, which points to the slippery metaphysical slope that involves the framework of scientifi c theories (section 4); and radical metaphysical minimalism, which maintains that metaphysical speculation must be restricted to the examination of ontological assumptions of our best current scientifi c theories. Section 6 concludes with some observations of the positive contribution of the metaphysics of science to our knowledge of reality.

Keywords : metaphysics of science; metaphysical maximalism; metaphysical minimalism; naturalism; unobservable entities; ontological presuppositions.

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