Do Scientists Adopt the Retentionist Strategy of CER?
One part of the convergent realist's argument is a claim to the effect that scientists
generally adopt the strategy of seeking to preserve earlier theories in later ones. As
Putnam puts it:
preserving the mechanisms of the earlier theory as often as possible, which is
what scientists try to do.... That scientists try to do this ... is a fact, and that
this strategy has led to important discoveries ... is also a fact. 27