Abstract
Impressively successful at the empirical level and open to multiple interpretations at the theoretical domain, quantum theory provides a rich source of examples of underdetermination. A more promising line of support for realism about quantum mechanics emerges from experimental physics. Some significant experiments have been conducted that prima facie seem to lead to very natural realist readings. The author first considers the challenge these experiments seem to raise to current forms of empiricism, particularly constructive empiricism. Three arguments are examined: the experiments challenge an important form of underdetermination employed by empiricists; the nature of quantum particles, in particular their identity and individuality, seems unproblematic in the context of these experiments, and the experiments provide an unprecedented form of access to the quantum particles involved. The discussion of an empiricist response to these three arguments is shaped by questions regarding the identity, individuality, and individuation of quantum particles in experimental contexts.