Single Idea 14919

[catalogued under 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 11. Denial of Necessity]

Full Idea

To be an empiricist is to withhold belief in anything that goes beyond the actual, observable phenomena, and to recognise no objective modality in nature.

Gist of Idea

Empiricists deny what is unobservable, and reject objective modality

Source

Bas C. van Fraassen (The Scientific Image [1980], p.202), quoted by J Ladyman / D Ross - Every Thing Must Go 2.3.1

Book Reference

Ladyman,J/Ross,D: 'Every Thing Must Go' [OUP 2007], p.99


A Reaction

To only believe in what is actually observable strikes me as ridiculous. It might be, though, that we observe modality, in observing dispositions. If you pull back a bowstring, you feel the possibilities.