Talk: Sébastien Rivat (MCMP)

Title:

How Theoretical Terms Effectively Refer

Abstract:

Scientific realists with traditional semantic inclinations are often pressed to explain away the distinguished series of referential failures that seem to plague our best past science. A central difficulty made particularly vivid in recent debates is to find a reliable and principled way to assess referential success at the time a theory is still a live concern. In this talk, I argue that this is best done in the case of physics by examining whether the putative referent of a term is specifiable within the limited domain delineated by the range of parameters over which the theory at stake is empirically accurate. I first implement this selective principle into a new account of reference, using the framework of effective theories as a guide and building on Stathis Psillos's works. Then, I argue that this account offers a remarkably reliable basis to assess referential success before theory-change in the case of effective theories and briefly explore how it extends to problematic historical cases.