The Complementary Roles of Realists and Anti-Realists

Abstract

I will show that realists and anti-realists from the 14th to the 17th centuries had practical differences which played complementary roles in the development of astronomy and mechanics. Firstly, there were obvious differences in scientific practice between the Thomists (realists) vs. the nominalists (anti-realists) during the 14th century; Copernicus (a realist) vs. instrumentalist astronomers (anti-realists) during the 16th century; and Galileo (a realist) vs. his opponents (anti-realists) during the 17th century. Secondly, each epistemic group’s contributions were irreplaceable by the other, collectively fostering the advancement of science. Further, I will give a short illustration about how these complementary roles of realists and anti-realists offers a solution to Kuhn’s dilemma of holism.