What is Hacking's argument for entity realism?

According to Ian Hacking’s Entity Realism, unobservable entities that scientists carefully manipulate to study other phenomena are real. Although Hacking presents his case in an intuitive, attractive, and persuasive way, his argument remains elusive. I present five possible readings of Hacking’s argument: a no‐miracle argument, an indispensability argument, a transcendental argument, a Vichian argument, and a non‐argument. I elucidate Hacking’s argument according to each reading, and review their strengths, their weaknesses, and their compatibility with each other. Keywords Scientific Realism; Entity Realism; Inference to the Best Explanation; Transcendental Arguments; Indispensability Arguments; Scepticism

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2016
• Where: SYNTHESE
• Authors: Boaz Miller
• Keywords: SYNTHESE 2016