van Fraassen, Bas

"The models science constructs are tools for understanding, not pictures of reality itself."

"Constructive empiricism reconciles respect for science with epistemological honesty."

"The world as we experience it is the only world we have access to."

"Science succeeds by staying focused on what can be empirically tested and confirmed."

"The empiricist thinks he can get away from metaphysics by being suspicious of absolute truth claims."

"Science aims at empirical adequacy, not necessarily at truth about unobservables."

"We construct our theories; nature does not hand them to us fully formed."

"The distinction between observables and unobservables is pragmatic, not metaphysical."

"Acceptance of a theory need not mean belief in its truth."

"Our best science may still leave many questions about reality unanswered."

"Mathematics is a tool we use to describe nature, not nature itself."

"Skepticism about metaphysics is not skepticism about science."

"What we can observe constrains what we can responsibly claim to know."

"The success of science does not require that our theories be literally true."

"We are always constructing our picture of the world from limited evidence."

"Empiricism demands humility about what we can know with certainty."

"The line between observation and theory is not as sharp as we might wish."

"Understanding does not always require metaphysical commitment."

"Our theories are tools for prediction and control, not mirrors of reality."

"The pursuit of truth must be tempered by acknowledgment of human limitations."

"Science succeeds because it makes predictions that work, not because it captures ultimate truth."

"Accepting a theory is accepting its consequences for action and prediction."

"Empiricism teaches us to be wary of claims that exceed the evidence."

"Our conceptual schemes shape what we can observe and understand."

"The problem of unobservables has long been the Achilles heel of empiricism."

"Science does not answer the question of why there is something rather than nothing."

"Pragmatism in epistemology means valuing theories that work in practice."

"We must distinguish between what science tells us and what we read into it."

"The universe may be far stranger than our current theories suggest."

"Empirical adequacy is a modest but achievable goal for our theories."