ABSTRACT
By appealing to his well-known theory of truthlikeness, Theo Kuipers undertakes to defend what sounds like an equally modest conclusion, the conclusion that 'beauty can be a road to the truth, namely as far as the truth is beautiful in the specific sense'. For beauty is evidently a quality that comes only in degrees, with no obvious maximum; nothing is perfect. The chapter presents the theory of truth approximation that Kuipers endorses. It explains why it gives no succour to the doctrine that in the empirical evaluation of scientific theories success is what counts. The chapter also explains why the theory provides also almost no help in answering, in any manner except the obvious one that question. It considers briefly that question, with reference to the controversial ideas of McAllister, and compare these ideas with some of those in the Metaphysical Epilogue of Popper's Postscript.
