The Bloomsbury Companion to the Philosophy of Science

by French, Steven; Saatsi, Juha

• ISBN13: 9781472527592
• ISBN10: 1472527593
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-09-25
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

The Bloomsbury Companion to the Philosophy of Science presents a practical and up-to-date research resource to the philosophy of science.

Addressing fundamental questions asked by areas that have continued to attract interest historically, as well as recently-emerging areas of research, this volume provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the philosophy of science. Specially-commissioned essays from an international team of experts reveal where important work continues to be done in the area and the exciting new directions the field is taking. The Companion explores issues pertaining to the philosophy of specific sciences (physics, biology, neuroscience, economics, chemistry and mathematics) and general issues in the field, such as explanation, realism, representation, evidence, reduction, laws, causation and confirmation.

Featuring a series of indispensable research tools, including an A to Z of key terms and concepts, a chronology, a detailed list of resources and a fully annotated bibliography, The Bloomsbury Companion to the Philosophy of Science the essential reference tool for anyone working in philosophy of science today.

Author Biography

Steven French is Professor of the Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds. He is the author of Science and Partial Truth (2003) and co-editor of The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

Juha Saatsi is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK. He is the co-editor (with Steven French and Dean Rickles) of The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity (2006).

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors
1. Introduction Steven French and Juha Saatisi (University of Leeds, UK)
Part I: Philosophy of Science in Context
2. Philosophy of Science and Epistemology Alexander Bird (University of Bristol, UK),
3. Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics Craig Callendar (University of California, San Diego, USA)
4. Philosophy of Science and the History of Science Don Howard (University of Notre Dame, USA)
Part II: Current Research and Issues
A. General Issues in the Philosophy of Science
5. Scientific Realism with a Human Face Stathis Psillos (University of Athens, Greece)
6. Causation and the Sciences Ned Hall (Harvard University, USA)
7. Scientific Models and Representation Gabriele Contessa (Carleton University, USA)
8. Reducation, Multiple Realizability and Levels of Reality Sven Walter (University of Osnabrueck, Austria) and Markus Eronen
9. Explanation Henk W.de Regt (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
10. Scientific Evidence Malcolm Forster (University of Wisconsin, USA)
11. Bayesian Confirmation Theory James Hawthorne (University of Oklahoma, USA)
B. Philosophy of Particular Sciences
12. Philosophy of Physics Nick Huggett (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
13. Philosophy of Biology Ingo Brigandt (University of Alberta, Canada)
14. Towards a Mechanistic Philosophy of Neuroscience Carl F. Craver (Washington University, USA) and David M. Kaplan
15. Philosophy of Chemistry Robin Findlay Hendry (Durham University, UK)
16.Philosophy of Economics, Catarina Marchionni and Jaako Kuorikoski (Finnish Centre of Excellence in Philosophy of Social Science, University of Helsinki, Finland)
17. Philosophy of Mathematics Chris Pincock (Purdue University, USA)
Part III: Past and Future
18. Travelling in New Directions
19. A Brief Chronology of the Philosophy of Science Peter Vicers
Part IV: Resources
20. Annotated Bibliography
21. Research Resources
221. A to Z of Key Terms and Concepts
Index