科学中的模型与隐喻:隐喻性的转向

隐喻在科学中的作用是当今科学哲学的一个重要论题。布雷德从一个新的视角论述了他的隐喻性转向的观点:隐喻是科学的理论化所必不可少的要素。布雷德讨论了隐喻的性质以及隐喻在科学中的三种功能:修辞性、启发性及认知性。按照传统的看法,隐喻仅仅在科学发现的与境中发挥着次要的启发作用。与之不同,布雷德认为,在科学的证明或辩护与境中隐喻发挥着重要的认知功能,在科学理论的推理和理论性解释中充满了隐喻。通过对隐喻在科学中的中心作用的论述以及对科学实在论解释的批判性分析,布雷德力图获得对真理概念和实在概念的重建。

Models and Metaphors in Science: The Metaphorical Turn

The role of metaphors in science is one of the most important research topics in philosophy of science.This paper puts forward the viewpoint of the metaphorical turn from a new perspective: Metaphors are an indispensable element of scientific theorizing.At first,the author discusses the nature of metaphors and three functions for metaphors in science: rhetorical,heuristic,and cognitive function.According to the orthodoxy,metaphors only play a secondary,heuristic role in the context of discovery.Differently,the author holds that metaphors also play a cognitively central role in the context of justification,and scientific reasoning and theoretical explanation are shot through with metaphors.By arguing for the centrality of metaphors in science and critically analyzing the account of scientific realism,the author argues for the restructuring of our concepts of truth and reality.