ことばと実在 : 「活動語」の意味

Abstract

Some scientific terms such as 'electrons' and 'the speed of light' appear to refer to entities that are not directly observable. According to anti-realism, one can explain any scientific activity as rational and making sense without believing in the existence of those entities. In contrast, realists argue that one cannot. Among many strands of realism is activity realism which claims that we need to believe in the existence of, say electrons and the speed of light in explaining an important scientific activity called 'measurement networking'. It also upholds that in the course of the networking those terms undergo an abrupt change, or a phase transition, so to say, in their meanings and definitions. This phase transition is so drastic that they deserve to be renamed after that from 'theoretical terms' to 'activity terms'. This paper aims to figure out in what respects the two sorts of terms differ from each other, and how this transition occurs.