The purpose of science[edit]
See also: Scientific realism and Instrumentalism
Should science aim to determine ultimate truth, or are there questions that science cannot answer? Scientific realists claim that science aims at truth and that one ought to regard scientific theories as true, approximately true, or likely true. Conversely, scientific anti-realists argue that science does not aim (or at least does not succeed) at truth, especially truth about unobservables like electrons or other universes.[14] Instrumentalists argue that scientific theories should only be evaluated on whether they are useful. In their view, whether theories are true or not is beside the point, because the purpose of science is to make predictions and enable effective technology.
Realists often point to the success of recent scientific theories as evidence for the truth (or near truth) of current theories.[15][16] Antirealists point to either the many false theories in the history of science,[17][18] epistemic morals,[19] the success of false modeling assumptions,[20] or widely termed postmodern criticisms of objectivity as evidence against scientific realism.[15] Antirealists attempt to explain the success of scientific theories without reference to truth.[21] Some antirealists claim that scientific theories aim at being accurate only about observable objects and argue that their success is primarily judged by that criterion.[19]