Volume 9 of *Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and
<br>Philosophy of Science* has been published. The journal is available via our
<br>website:
<br>
<br>http://spontaneousgenerations.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/SpontaneousGenera
<br>tions
<br>
<br>Volume 9 of *Spontaneous Generations* presents an eclectic but surprisingly
<br>harmonious collection of invited and peer-reviewed papers, organized under
<br>the title “The Future of the Scientific Realism Debate: Contemporary Issues
<br>Concerning Scientific Realism”.
<br>
<br>Curtis Forbes's editor's introduction starts off the collection by tracing
<br>some of the broader themes that unite the pieces. It is followed by a
<br>dialogue between Bas van Fraassen and Anjan Chakravartty entitled "What is
<br>Scientific Realism?", which sets the tone for the twenty one essays that
<br>follow: all quite stimulating, sometimes perplexed, and often freely
<br>speculative. In order of appearance, there are contributions from Jeff
<br>Foss, Hasok Chang, Theodore Arabatzis, Harry Collins, Arthur Fine, Joseph
<br>Rouse, Alan Musgrave, Howard Sankey, Stathis Psillos, P. Kyle Stanford,
<br>Jamie Shaw, James Ladyman, Robin Hendry, Pete Vickers, Mario Alai, Kerry
<br>McKenzie, K. Brad Wray, Tim Lyons, Paul Teller, Nancy Cartwright, as well
<br>as Cliff Hooker and Giles Hooker.
<br>
<br>The journal's usual distinction between full-length articles, focused
<br>discussion pieces, and shorter opinion statements was suspended to give
<br>invited contributors maximal freedom to speak their mind. Some chose to
<br>share a new and carefully articulated, lengthy argument. Others chose to
<br>briefly clarify some previous work of theirs, or offer a preface to
<br>something forthcoming. Still others raise new problems for the would-be
<br>scientific realist, or their opponents, or boldly proffer some new terms
<br>the debate might, will, or should be based on moving forward.
<br>
<br>The result is a kind of snapshot that records some ways these specific
<br>philosophers of science are currently thinking about the state, history,
<br>and future of the debate over scientific realism. Much of it is reflective
<br>and opinionated, so the reader deserves some clarification: many of the
<br>ideas found here deserve to be fleshed out more fully elsewhere, and in
<br>most cases the authors have either referenced prior publications where they
<br>have done so, or mentioned their plans to do so soon.
<br>
<br>This special issue has given various parties to the scientific realism
<br>debate the opportunity to describe where they presently stand, and where
<br>they think the discussion should be going. The reader, however, will likely
<br>need to consult separate works to fully understand why each author stands
<br>where they do, and wait to see where the debate over scientific realism
<br>goes moving forward. As a whole, therefore, this collection is probably
<br>best treated as a touchstone or launching point for further study and
<br>discussion of many contemporary issues concerning scientific realism.
<br>
<br>Enjoy.
<br>
<br>*Table of Contents*
<br>
<br>Editor's Introduction / Curtis Forbes
<br>
<br>What is Scientific Realism? / Anjan Chakravartty, Bas C. van Fraassen
<br>
<br>Feyerabendian Pragmatism / Jeff Foss
<br>
<br>Realism for realistic people / Hasok Chang
<br>
<br>Engaging philosophically with the history of science: two challenges for
<br>scientific realism / Theodore Arabatzis
<br>
<br>Gravitational Waves and Scientific Realism / Harry Collins
<br>
<br>Motives for Research / Arthur Fine
<br>
<br>Beyond Realism and Antirealism ---At Last? / Joseph Rouse
<br>
<br>BEWARE OF Mad DOG Realist / Alan Musgrave
<br>
<br>A Dilemma for the Scientific Realist / Howard Sankey
<br>
<br>Tolstoy’s argument: realism and the history of science / Stathis Psillos
<br>
<br>A Fond Farewell to "Approximate Truth”? / P. Kyle Stanford
<br>
<br>Why the Realism Debate Matters for Science Policy: The Case of the Human
<br>Brain Project / Jamie Craig Owen Shaw
<br>
<br>Scientific Realism Again / James Ladyman
<br>
<br>Scientific Realism and the History of Chemistry / Robin Hendry
<br>
<br>Quo Vadis Selective Scientific Realism? / Peter Vickers
<br>
<br>How Deployment Realism withstands Doppelt's Criticisms / Mario Alai
<br>
<br>Being realistic: the challenge of theory change for a metaphysics of
<br>scientific realism / Kerry McKenzie
<br>
<br>The Relevance of Evidence from the History of Science in the Contemporary
<br>Realism/Anti-realism Debate / K. Brad Wray
<br>
<br>Four Challenges to Epistemic Scientific Realism—and the Socratic
<br>Alternative / Timothy D Lyons
<br>
<br>Referential and Perspectival Realism / Paul Teller
<br>
<br>Theoretical practices that work: those that mimic Nature’s own / Nancy
<br>Cartwright
<br>
<br>Machine Learning and the Future of Realism / Giles Hooker, Cliff Hooker
<br>
<br>*Reviews*
<br>
<br>Rebecca Lemov. Database of Dreams: The Lost Quest to Catalog Humanity /
<br>Jennifer Fraser
<br>
<br>Douglas A. Vakoch and Matthew F. Dowd. The Drake Equation: Estimating the
<br>Prevalence of Extraterrestrial Life through the Ages / Andrew Oakes
<br>
<br>Melinda Baldwin. Making Nature: The History of a Scientific Journal /
<br>Andrew Oakes
<br>
<br>Andre Holenstein, Hubert Steinke, and Martin Stuber, eds. Scholars in
<br>Action: The Practice of Knowledge and the Figure of the Savant in the 18th
<br>Century, Volumes 1 and 2. / Kristen M. Schranz
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