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Internal realism

Brian Ellis

pp. 409-434

Abstract

I argue in this paper that anyone who accepts the ontology of scientific realism can only accept a pragmatic theory of truth, i.e., a theory on which truth is what it is epistemically right to believe. But the combination of realism with such a theory of truth is a form of internal realism; therefore, a scientific realist should be an internal realist. The strategy of the paper is to argue that there is no adequate semantic or correspondence theory of truth compatible with a realist ontology, that a redundancy theory cannot account for the value of truth, and that the only kind of truth theory which can account for the value of truth, and is compatible with a realist ontology, is a pragmatic theory. The kind of truth theory I wish to defend is objective and naturalistic, and the ontology is realistic. My position is, therefore, one of objective, naturalistic realism.

Publication details

Published in:

(1988) Synthese 76 (3).

Pages: 409-434

DOI: 10.1007/BF00869609

Full citation:

Ellis Brian (1988) „Internal realism“. Synthese 76 (3), 409–434.