ABSTRACT
The logical empiricists’ attitude toward realism can be viewed from two perspectives: firstly, as a devastating critique of ‘metaphysical’ realism; secondly, as an affirmative approach toward ‘empirical’ realism. It will be shown that empirical realism, as understood by the logical empiricists, came up in three different versions: a probabilistic, a pragmatic, and an invariantist version. On the whole, it will turn out that the interrelations between realist and logical empiricist currents are more complex and intricate than is commonly supposed.
