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Scientific Instrumentalism
“A theory may be an excellent tool even if we suspend judgment about what exists behind it.”
01 / SUMMARY
In short
Instrumentalism treats theories primarily as devices for organizing and predicting observations while avoiding or limiting commitments to unobservable entities. Stronger and weaker versions differ.
03 / SCENE
In the wild
Someone may use a particle model to calculate outcomes without claiming every model element exists exactly as represented.
04 / LIMIT
The limit
Instrumentalism does not make every useful model acceptable or empirical accuracy irrelevant.
FINAL NOTE
What remains
Ask whether a theory is being used to predict, explain, or assert what exists.