Realism Operational

Chemists, on the other hand, rarely question the reality of the tools with which they do their chemical work, be they natural or artificial. In this sense, Meyerson was completely justified in condemning the duplicity of chemists like Kekule. These nineteenth-century chemists avoided the metaphysical question of the existence of atoms while happily continuing to use them, like a plumber would use a spanner or a screwdriver. Yet their realism was definitely non-representational. In his 1983 introduction to the philosophy of science, Kepresencing and Intervening, Ian Hacking makes the crucial distinction between realism with respect to theories and realism with respect to entities . Chemists realism is an entity realism, although one that is better qualified as operational realism because of its dependence on the productive activity characteristic of this science. 

Philosophers might be tempted to criticize chemists operational realism as a form of naive credulity that fails to measure up to a purer form of... 

The chemists operational realism that we propose does not postulate any underlying coherent reality, and as a corollary has no need for any... 

Elements as Actors Operational Realism Alternative Metaphors... 

Representativeness can be examined from two aspects statistical and deterministic. Any statistical test of representativeness is lacking becau.se many histories are needed for statistical significance. In the absence of this, PSAs use statistical methods to synthesize data to represent the equipment, operation, and maintenance. How well this represents the plant being modeled is not known. Deterministic representativeness can be answered by full-scale tests on like equipment. Such is the responsibility of the NSSS vendor, but for economic reasons, recourse to simplillcd and scaled models is often necessary. System success criteria for a PSA may be taken from the FSAR which may have a conservative bias for licensing. Realism is more expensive than conservatism. 

In the case of some dreams, their "realism" may persist into the waking state. Thus, realness and sensation are not a unity, but the concurrent operation of two separate functions. Realness (the quality of reality) and reality testing (the judgment of what is external versus what is imaginary) likewise appear to be two different functions, although they usually operate in synchrony. 

In many cases, CHEMTREC is called for the first time during an actual emergency. If CHEMTREC is involved in a drill for a hazardous materials response, an additional dimension of realism can be added to the exercise. CHEMTREC handles drills in exactly the same manner as an actual emergency. By working together in advance, emergency responders will better understand what resources and services are available. This facilitates smoother operations if an actual incident occurs. 

---