THE EINSTEIN VS. LORENTZ ISSUE AS A CASE AGAINST REALISM

Fundamental problems in the philosophy of science in regards to the search for truth are formed by a single concept: underdetermination. This underdetermination gives rise to the idea of empirical equivalence of two competing theories, and this in turn makes it in principle impossible to provide logical proof for the truth of either one in favour of the other, which is distinct from the scientific preference for one over the other. I will present the Einstein vs. Lorentz case as an example of this fundamental problem of underdetermination. Then I will propose an instrumentalist view as a preferred attitude and explain why realism is so easily accepted.