La novità del nuovo realismo

Abstract

The Novelty of New Realism

In the Italian public cultural discussion it has often been argued that philosophical realism is an obsolete and irrelevant conception and that no attention should be given to its new versions. In this article, it is argued that this thesis is flawed because the issue of realism is philosophically inescapable. This will be argued by discussing two examples that come from science. The first example concerns the concept of species, which is hotly debated today both in biology and in the philosophy of biology. What is relevant here is that none of the available definitions of species cover all the cases biologists would like to cover – so that several scholars have taken the antirealist attitude by denying the objective reality of species. The other example concerns the birth of modern science, which (against some contemporary interpretations) cannot be understood without appreciating its deep commitments toward a realistic interpretation of scientific theories. Some objections will also be dealt with that have been raised by the antirealists, such as the one centered on the alleged connection of new realism with political realism and another that concerns the status of conventions in our practices.