ABSTRACT
The ‘realist turn’ in the philosophy of science occurred in the 1970s and marked a shift from empiricist views concerning scientific theories and their relation to the world to realist ones. It was associated with what came to be known as the explanationist defense of realism, namely, the strategy of showing that the basic realist tenets offer the best explanation of the empirical and predictive successes of scientific theories. Realism initiated an era of epistemic optimism: science is in the truth business. This chapter offers a narrative of the basic twists and turns of the realism debate after the realist turn. It starts with what preceded and initiated the turn, namely, instrumentalist construals of scientific theories. It then moves onto discuss the basic lines of development of the realist stance to science, focusing on one of its main challenges: the historical challenge.
