Constructive Empiricism

CORE DEFINITION

Constructive empiricism is a position advanced by Bas van Fraassen, holding that science aims at theories which are empirically adequate, meaning that what they say about observable phenomena is correct, and that acceptance of a theory does not require belief in the literal existence of its unobservable entities. The core proposition is that the observable and the unobservable warrant different epistemic attitudes, so one can use a theory fully while suspending judgement about its deeper ontology. The key qualification is that this is not instrumentalism, since van Fraassen holds that theories are literally truth-apt and only asks that belief be restricted to observable content.