As the author of the phrase, I meant “just social constructs” to be an ontological statement.
Are you saying they are actually realists about germs and atoms, and are stating their position dishonetly? Do you think “is real” is just a label in some unimportant way?
Do you think “is real” is just a label in some unimportant way?
Maybe. I’m not entirely sure what your argument is. For instance, were the matrices of matrix mechanics quantum physics “real”? Were the waves of the wave formulation of QM “real”? The two formulations are equivalent, and it doesn’t seem useful to debate the reality of their individual idiosyncratic components this way.
As the author of the phrase, I meant “just social constructs” to be an ontological statement.
Are you saying they are actually realists about germs and atoms, and are stating their position dishonetly? Do you think “is real” is just a label in some unimportant way?
Maybe. I’m not entirely sure what your argument is. For instance, were the matrices of matrix mechanics quantum physics “real”? Were the waves of the wave formulation of QM “real”? The two formulations are equivalent, and it doesn’t seem useful to debate the reality of their individual idiosyncratic components this way.