Table Of Contentthe terry lectures
The
Empirical
Stance
Other volumes in the Terry Lecture Series available
from Yale University Press
Becoming: Basic Considerations for
a Psychology of Personality
gordon w. allport
Belief in God in an Age of Science
john polkinghorne
A Common Faith
john dewey
The Courage to Be
paul tillich
Education at the Crossroads
jacques maritain
Freud and Philosophy:
An Essay on Interpretation
paul ricoeur
translated by Denis Savage
Freud and the Problem of God
hans küng
translated by Edward Quinn
The Meaning of Evolution:
A Study of the History of Life
and of Its Significance for Man
george gaylord simpson
Psychoanalysis and Religion
erich fromm
Psychology and Religion
carl gustav jung
Israelis and the Jewish Tradition:
An Ancient People Debating
Its Future
david hartman
The
Empirical
Stance
Bas C. van Fraassen
Yale University Press
New Haven & London
Published with assistance from the Ernst Cassirer Publication Fund.
Copyright ∫ 2002 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations,
in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the
U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without
written permission from the publishers.
Set in Minion Roman types by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Van Fraassen, Bas C., 1941–
The empirical stance / Bas C. van Fraassen.
p. cm. — (The Terry lectures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-300-08874-4
1. Empiricism. I. Title. II. Series.
B816 .V36 2001
146%.44—dc21
2001046649
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Dwight Harrington Terry Foundation Lectures on
Religion in the Light of Science and Philosophy
The deed of gift declares that ‘‘the object of this foundation is
not the promotion of scientific investigation and discovery, but
rather the assimilation and interpretation of that which has
been or shall be hereafter discovered, and its application to
human welfare, especially by the building of the truths of sci-
ence and philosophy into the structure of a broadened and
purified religion. The founder believes that such a religion will
greatly stimulate intelligent e√ort for the improvment of human
conditions and the advancement of the race in strength and
excellence of character. To this end it is desired that a series of
lectures be given by men eminent in their respective depart-
ments, on ethics, the history of civilization and religion, biblical
research, all sciences and branches of knowledge which have an
important bearing on the subject, all the great laws of nature,
especially of evolution . . . also such interpretations of literature
and sociology as are in accord with the spirit of this foundation,
to the end that the Christian spirit may be nurtured in the fullest
light of the world’s knowledge and that mankind may be helped
to attain its highest possible welfare and happiness upon this
earth.’’ The present work constitutes the latest volume published
on this foundation.
voor mijne bonne amie
Contents
Preface xiii
Introduction xvii
Lecture 1. Against Analytic Metaphysics 1
1. Living with a Dead Metaphysics 2
2. Ontology Reborn 4
3. Does the World Exist? 5
4. A Spectrum of Theories 6
5. Scientific Steps Beyond Science? 11
6. The Form of Success, and Its Failure 18
7. A Dilemma for the Conscientious 25
8. A World Well Lost 27
viii Contents
Lecture 2. What Is Empiricism and
What Could It Be? 31
one. in search of a tradition 31
1. Sketch of the Tradition as Usually Understood 31
2. History of the Word ‘‘Empiricism’’ 32
3. Codification by the Historians: The Defining Criterion 34
4. Immediate Inadequacy of the Criterion 35
5. Sketch of the Tradition Continued:
The Recurrent Rebellion 36
two. critique: what empiricism cannot be 38
6. The Period of Empiricist Critique of Empiricism 38
7. Foundationalist Epistemology: Doomed to
Vicious Circle or Infinite Regress? 39
8. Reaching Deeper: Why Stonewalling Can’t Work 40
three. what empiricism could be:
philosophical stances 46
9. The Recurrent Rebellion Re-examined:
What Separates Empiricists from Metaphysicians? 47
10. How to Violate Principle Zero: The Stance 47
11. The Stance as Will and Idea 48
four. example of a stance misunderstood:
materialism 49
12. Is This a Factual Claim? 50
13. What Is Matter? 50
Contents ix
14. Two Moves for Materialists 53
The First Move: Materialism as Scientific
Hypothesis 53
The Second Move: Whatever It Takes 55
15. Materialism as False Consciousness 57
16. Materialism Without False Consciousness? 60
five. what could philosophy be, then? 61
Lecture 3. Scientific Revolution/Conversion
as a Philosophical Problem 64
one. the problem: our rejected/celebrated past 65
1. Epistemic Trauma, Revolution, Conversion 67
2. The Problem of Radical Conversion as a
Criterion of Adequacy 72
two. frameworks for solution 74
3. Two Forms of Epistemology 74
4. ‘‘Objectifying’’ Epistemology 77
5. Voluntarism in Epistemology 81
Wilfrid Sellars’s Irenic Axiology 83
William James’s Epistemic Imperatives 86
6. The Problem of Revolutionary Changes in View:
Not Yet Solved 90
three. the impasse: enter emotion 92
7. In Transit Perilous: Conditions for Revolution 93
8. Pascal’s Wager and Its Limits 94
