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Full Idea
Instrumentalist views typically attribute utility to the given body of discourse, but deny that it expresses genuine truths.
Gist of Idea
Instrumentalism normally says some discourse is useful, but not genuinely true
Source
Terence Horgan (From Supervenience to Superdupervenience [1993], §8)
Book Ref
-: 'Mind' [-], p.27
A Reaction
To me it is obvious to ask why anything could have a high level of utility (especially in accounts of the external physical world) without being true. Falsehoods may sometimes (though I doubt it) be handy in human life, but useful in chemistry…?
16052 | 'Superdupervenience' is supervenience that has a robustly materialistic explanation [Horgan,T] |
16053 | 'Global' supervenience is facts tracking varying physical facts in every possible world [Horgan,T] |
16054 | Physicalism needs more than global supervenience on the physical [Horgan,T] |
16055 | Materialism requires that physics be causally complete [Horgan,T] |
16057 | Instrumentalism normally says some discourse is useful, but not genuinely true [Horgan,T] |
16056 | Don't just observe supervenience - explain it! [Horgan,T] |