Why Science Should Stay Clear of Metaphysics - Issue 40: Learning

Philosophers of science are not known for agreeing with each other--contrariness is part of the job description. But for thousands of years, from Aristotle to Thomas Kuhn, those who study what science is have roughly categorized themselves into two basic camps: "realists" and "anti-realists." In philosophical terms, "anti-realists" or "empiricists" understand science as investigating the properties of observable objects via experiments. Empirical theories are constrained by the experimental results. "Realists," on the other hand, speculate more freely about the possible shape of the unobservable world, often designing mathematical explanations that cannot (yet) be tested. Isaac Newton was a realist, as are string theorists. Most scientists do not lose sleep worrying about philosophical divides. But maybe they should; Albert Einstein certainly did, as did Niels Bohr, and Erwin Schrödinger.