Technical Realism, Indirect Realism, and the Nature of Scientific Progress

First the main tenets of the Authors operational-technical realism are sketched, according to which the decisive criterion for the truth of scientific theories lies in their successful operational-technical applicability; this realism allows, amongst other things, a non-relativistic reinterpretation of the incommensurability thesis. It is then shown that any realism that does not accept the intrinsic connection between science and technics turns out to be an indirect realism that contains unwittingly platonic elements in its view of meaning and reference. Putnam’s internal realism is chosen as a typical example.