An authoritative account of
the semantic conception of theories by one of its chief developers. Suppe has
always seen the semantic conception as providing a way of moving beyond empiricist
philosophies of science. This book provides the definitive account of his views
not only on the issue of realism, but also on a variety of other issues central
to the philosophy of science.
-- Ronald N. Giere, author of Explaining Science: A Cognitive Approach