Does Scientific Realism Beg the Question?

Geoffrey Gorham
1996 Informal Logic  
In a series of influential articles, the anti-realist Arthur Fine has repeatedly charged that a certain very popular argument for scientific realism, that only realism can explain the instrumental success of science, begs the question. I argue that on no plausible reading ofthe fallacy does the realist argument beg the question. In fact, Fine is himself guilty of what DeMorgan called the "opponent fallacy."
doi:10.22329/il.v18i2.2381 fatcat:nxbvihgesnay3ggkycxigrzjni