-
Introduction
Bas van Fraassen, originally from the Netherlands, emigrated to Canada in 1956 (Van Frassen). Van Fraassen’s philosophy of science career is probably most well known for his anti-realist concept of Constructive Empiricism, but Van Fraassen states he has two current pursuits, “The first is structural realism… The second is the subject of modeling in science in practice,”(Van Fraassen). YouTube- Bas van Fraassen-What are the Scope and Limits of Science
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brAOVfAoimQ -
The Scientific Image
The Scientific Image written in 1980 was probably Van Fraassen’s most notable book which focuses on his anti-realist concept of Constructive Empiricism. Constructive Empiricism is defined as, “Science aims to give us theories which are empirically adequate; and acceptance of a theory involves as belief only that it is empirically adequate,” (Monton & Mohler, from Van Frassen’s “The Scientific Image”). -
Laws and Symmetry
In the 1989 book Laws and Symmetry Van Fraassen discusses that there are no laws of nature, or that we shouldn’t believe there are and therefore laws shouldn’t be applied to science. He is thus rejecting that the, “metaphysical account of laws can succeed,” then uses this view and, “develops the empiricist view of science as a construction of models to represent the phenomena,” (Laws and Symmetry). Van Fraassen’s Work
“Laws and Symmetry”. Oxford University Press, 1989. -
The Empirical Stance
According to Bas C. van Fraassen, he offers answer to the following two questions in The Empirical Stance: “What Is Empiricism, and What Could It Be?” (Van Fraasseen) He continues to look at traditional empiricism while critiquing metaphisics and, “points the way toward a new relationship between secularism and science within philosophy.” (The Empirical Stance)
Van Fraassen’s Work
“The Empirical Stance”. Yale University Press, 2002. -
Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective
The second philosophical question Bas van Fraassen has been tackling most recently is, “What is Scientific Representation,” (Van Fraasseen) which is the question answered in Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective. Van Fraassen, “presents an original exploration of how we represent the world,” (Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective Reprint Edition) as science is described through theories and the tools and observations used to develop those theories.
