Scientific pluralism

Scientific pluralism is the view that some phenomena observed in science require multiple explanations to account for their nature. Pluralists observe that scientists present various—sometimes even incompatible—models of the world and argue that this is due to the complexity of the world and representational limitations.

Scientific pluralists argue that the pluralistic nature of the scientific process is a major factor in the rapid growth of knowledge. In turn, an increase in knowledge arguably leads to increased human welfare due to, for example, greater productivity, economic growth and better medical technology.