Keat and Urry ( l975. 63) distinguish two main senses given to the term instrumentalism.‘ First. it can refer to a philosophy of scientific inquiry that aims to provide predictive and manipulative power over the physical environment (presum- ably this philosophy could also apply to social science and include the social environment). Second. the term can denote a view about the logical status of scientific theories as computa- tional devices that generate testable predictions.