ragmana: Both texts develop different, sophisticated versions of instrumentalism (contra realism) about scientific theory. Neither involves the semantic jiggery-pokery that has sometimes given instrumentalism a bad name: Each makes normative claims about how we should view theory development, not descriptive semantic claims about what theoretical statements "actually mean to say" or attempts to conflate truth with pragmatic reliability. Each rather asks that we aim for something like reliability instead of aiming for truth.… (altro)