Catherine Elgin

I argue that constructive nominalism is preferable to scientific realism. Rather than reflecting without distortion the way the mind-independent world is, theories refract. They provide an understanding of the world as modulated by a particular theory. Truth is defined within a theoretical framework rather than outside of it. This does not undermine objectivity, for an assertion contains a reference to the framework in terms of which its truth is claimed.

v. 1. Nominalism, constructivism, and relativism in the work of Nelson Goodman -- v. 2. Nelson Goodman's new riddle of induction -- v. 3. Nelson Goodman's philosophy of art -- v. 4. Nelson Goodman's theory of symbols and its applications.