Zitate von Ian Hacking und Nancy Cartwright

Ian Hacking und Nancy Cartwright: “... if you can spray them then they are real.”
Ian Hacking * 1936 Vancouver, Kandier – Nancy Cartwright * 1943 US-Amerikanerin

"Now how does one alter the charge on the niobium ball? »Well, at that stage,« said my friend, »we spray it with positrons to increase the charge or with electrons to decrease the charge.« From that day forth I've been a scientific realist. So far as I'm concerned, if you can spray them then they are real."
Ian Hacking: Representing and Intervening. Cambridge 1983. Kursivsetzung durch Hacking

"Wie verändert man nun die Ladung auf der Kugel aus Niob? »In dieser Phase«, hat mir mein Freund erzählt, »besprühen wir sie mit Positronen, um die Ladung zu erhöhen, oder mit Elektronen, um die Ladung zu vermindern.« Von diesem Tage an vertrete ich den wissenschaftlichen Realismus. Was mich betrifft, gilt: Wenn man sie versprüchen kann, sind die real."
Ian Hacking: Einführung in die Philosophie der Naturwissenschaften. Joachim Schulte, Übs., Stuttgart 1996.

"Ian Hacking is famous for his remark »If you can spray them, they exist«. I have always agreed with that. But I would now be more cautious: »When you can spray them, they exist.«" –
Nancy Cartwright: "Fundamentalism Vs. the Patchwork of Laws". In: The Philosophy of Science. David Papineau, Hg. Oxford, 1996. 314–326.

Hacking's Principle of Charity, ein Propädeutikum für jede Diskussion, jedes Gespräch
"The important thing is to be able to understand anyone who has something useful to say.
There is a general moral here. Be very careful and very clear about what you say. But do not be dogmatic about your own language. Be prepared to express any careful thought in the language your audience will understand. And be prepared to learn from someone who talks a language with which you are not familiar".
Ian Hacking: An Introduction to Probability and Inductive Logic, S. 38

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