Abstract

Empirical adequacy matters directly - as it does for antirealists - if we aim to get all or most of the observable facts right, or indirectly - as it does for realists - as a symptom that the claims we make about the theoretical facts are right. But why should getting the facts - either theoretical or empirical - right be required of an acceptable theory? Here we endorse two other jobs that good theories are expected to do: helping us with a) understanding and b) managing the world. Both are of equal, often greater, importance than getting a swathe of facts right, and empirical adequacy fares badly in both. It is not needed for doing these jobs and in many cases it gets in the way of doing them efficiently.

Highlights

  • Empirical adequacy matters directly - as it does for antirealists - if we aim to get all or most of the observable facts right, or indirectly - as it does for realists - as a symptom that the claims we make about the theoretical facts are right

  • The fundamental problem is that, even where truth has been eschewed as the aim in view, the considerations raised for theory choice are still trained on truth

  • The mistake about requiring empirical adequacy of our theories is connected with a familiar but ill-explained notion associated with theory choice – that of acceptability

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Summary

Our thesis

Theory choice has long been a prime topic in philosophy of science: ‘How should we choose from among competing theories?’ Theory virtues have in recent years become a standard, closely related topic: BWhat virtues should a desirable theory have?^ BAre the preferred candidates (perhaps simplicity, heterogeneity, or explanatory power) symptomatic that a theory is true?^ We think that most of this discussion is misguided. Even if we want other virtues in a theory like say, simplicity, it is assumed that we first winnow down to theories that are (at least roughly) empirically adequate. We think that this approach is off on the wrong foot: empirical adequacy is a poor starting point that could have us picking from among the wrong theories in many contexts. For many purposes that science aims to serve, the theories we choose need not be anything like empirically adequate, and as we will argue, in some cases empirical adequacy is a positive vice

Empirical adequacy and theoretical virtues
In pursuit of understanding
Realist understanding
Understanding via vehicles that get the theory approximately right
Understanding via vehicles that get other things that matter right
Counterfactual understanding
Understanding via vehicles that provide simple make-believe models
Understanding via vehicles that provide plausible explanatory stories
Pragmatic understanding
Managing the world around us
Some parting thoughts
Conclusion

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