Realism emphasizes the truth and descriptive power of scientific theories, while instrumentalism focuses on their practical utility and predictive capability.
The true description of the world: Realism posits that scientific theories aim to provide a true or approximately true description of the world, including both observable and unobservable phenomena. Realists believe that the success of scientific theories is best explained by their ability to accurately describe aspects of reality. They argue that scientific theories are not just tools for prediction but are genuine attempts to uncover the truth about the universe.
Instruments for the world: Instrumentalism, on the other hand, views scientific theories primarily as tools or instruments for predicting observable phenomena and solving practical problems. Instrumentalists argue that the value of a theory lies in its usefulness and predictive success, rather than its truth or correspondence to reality. They often question whether it is meaningful to consider theoretical terms as corresponding to external reality, given that theories can be underdetermined by empirical data and subject to change over time.
Realism emphasizes the truth and descriptive power of scientific theories, while instrumentalism focuses on their practical utility and predictive capability. Instrumentalists think that theories are valuable for their predictive success, not their truth. In modern science, instrumentalism is reflected in approaches like constructive empiricism, which emphasizes empirical adequacy over truth, focusing on a theory's ability to predict observable phenomena and solve problems informatively.
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