Constructing Realism: Seven Moves (Plus or Minus A Couple)

This paper offers some constructionist comments on Greenwoods (1992) realist argument. It describes seven rhetorical moves which sustain its plausibility and coherence: (1) construct constructionism as simple; (2) avoid empirical studies of science; (3) treat the nature of description as self-evident; (4) reconstruct scientific practice in terms of logic, inference and deductive structure; (5) elide everyday and technical concepts; (6) replace mapping talk with accuracy talk; (7) treat your own status as non-rhetorical.