Homework Assignment

Grover Maxwell, "The Ontological Status of Theoretical Entities"

Reading Questions

Please answer each of the following questions to the best of your ability. Write complete sentences - but be as concise as possible. You may use your text, lecture notes, and any other resources in completing this assignment. However, the answers you submit must be your own.

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1. What is the difference between realist, descriptivist, and instrumentalist interpretations of theories?

2. Does Maxwell argue for a realist, descriptivist, or instrumentalist interpretation of scientific theories?

3. Outline Maxwell's account of how the problem of the existence of theoretical entities arises.

4. What arguments does Maxwell offer to counter the claim that what is seen through a miscroscope is "just a shadow or an image" and not a physical object"

5. How does Maxwell counter the claim that theoretical entities are unobservable in principle?

6. What difficulties does Maxwell see in the view that "all descriptive terms of the observation language must refer to that which has been observed?

7.Does Maxwell think that the observational/theoretical distinction has any ontological significance? Briefly explain why or why not.

8. At the beginning of his essay Maxwell states that he will present a "small number of constructive arguments ( for a radically realistic interpretation of theories)." What are his arguments ? Outline briefly.

9. Compare Maxwell's continuum of observation with Carnap's in "The Nature of Theories.".

10. Why does Maxwell think that it is important to show that "we can talk about the possibilityof observing electrons without committing logical or conceptual blunders?"