Extensionalism and intensionalism in the realist-SSK 'debate'

Authors

  • Edward Mariyani-Squire University of Western Sydney, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23941/ejpe.v3i2.54

Keywords:

strong programme, sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), meaning finitism, extensionalism, intensionalism, transcendental realism

Abstract

The 'strong programme' in the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is based upon finitism and extensionalism. This article examines a critique of these bases. It is argued that David Tyfield's (2008; 2009) realist critique and his alternative intensionalist account of meaning face problems at least as serious as those he identifies in the strong programme’s finitism. This is not to say that the strong programme is problem-free: it fails to give sufficient acknowledgement to non-conventional constraints on meaning formation and change. It is also suggested that, as they are currently conceived, realism's intensionalism and the strong programme's extensionalism are irreconcilably incompatible at such a basic level that the 'debate' between them reduces to an exchange of 'assurances'.

Author Biography

Edward Mariyani-Squire, University of Western Sydney, Australia

Edward Mariyani-Squire is a member of the School of Economics and Finance at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. His research focuses on the philosophy of science, economic methodology and its history, and the foundations of political economy and economics.

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Published

2010-11-14

How to Cite

Mariyani-Squire, E. (2010). Extensionalism and intensionalism in the realist-SSK ’debate’. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, 3(2), 26–46. https://doi.org/10.23941/ejpe.v3i2.54

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2010): Autumn 2010

Section

Articles