ABSTRACT
In this essay I consider the historical challenges to scientific realist positions. A statement of ‘Contemporary Selective Scientific Realism’ (CSSR) is sketched, so as to narrow down the historical challenges which are relevant. Six such challenges are then introduced as particularly serious, since they constitute cases of very significant scientific success issuing from theories where even the central ‘working’ parts cannot reasonably be described as ‘approximately true’. Certain realist strategies for handling these six cases are considered, including (i) a move to structural realism, (ii) a move to incorporate elements of confirmation theory into the realist position, and (iii) giving up on the prospective identification of ‘working posits’. I also raise the question of the very possibility of evaluating a philosophical position, such as scientific realism, by ‘testing’ it against the historical record.
