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9780415891769

Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction

by ;
  • ISBN13:

    9780415891769

  • ISBN10:

    0415891760

  • Edition: 3rd
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2011-07-12
  • Publisher: Routledge

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Summary

Any serious student attempting to better understand the nature, methods and justification of science will value Alex Rosenberg#xE2;#xAC;"s updated and substantially revised Third Editionof Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction. Weaving together lucid explanations and clear analyses, the volume is as a much-used, thematically oriented introduction to the field. New features of the Third Editioninclude more coverage of the history of the philosophy of science, more fully developed material on the metaphysics of causal and physical necessity, more background on the contrast between empiricism and rationalism in science, and new material on the structure of theoretical science (with expanded coverage of Newtonian and Darwinian theories and models) and the realism/antirealism controversy. Rosenberg also divides the Third Editioninto fourteen chapters, aligning each chapter with a week in a standard semester-long course. Updated Discussion Questions, Glossary, Bibliography and Suggested Readings lists at the end of each chapter will make the Third Editionindispensable, either as a comprehensive stand-alone text or alongside the many wide-ranging collections of articles and book excerpts currently available. Key Features: #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; The third edition of a popular book in the Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy Series, this text offers comprehensive coverage of one of the fastest-growing fields in contemporary philosophy. #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; The previous edition (2005) was called "the industry standard" and "essential reading" in a 2010 review from Teaching Philosophyof all single-authored textbooks in the field #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; The author, winner of the prestigious Lakatos Award given by the London School of Economics, is a widely known and respected philosopher of science and of social science #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Lucid and logically structured, guiding the reader through the many complex facets of a difficult subject #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Comprehensive Suggested Reading sections at the end of each chapter tie the book directly to important papers and leading anthologies of previously published material (e.g., Martin Curd and J.A. Cover#xE2;#xAC;"s Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues, Marc Lange#xE2;#xAC;"s Philosophy of Science: An Anthology, and Yuri Balashov and Alex Rosnberg#xE2;#xAC;"s Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings). Changes and Updates in the Third Edition: #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; The entire text is now presented in 14 chapters, making it suitable to read one chapter per week in a semester-long course at most North American universities #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; While the book#xE2;#xAC;"s structure remains thematic rather than historical, the first two chapters now provide a brief history of philosophy to show how the problems of philosophy of science are modern versions of problems that have haunted philosophy since its inception #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Now ties the positivism and post-positivism of the 20th and 21st centuries to Kant, Hume, Leibniz, Locke and Descartes #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Introduces the metaphysics of physical necessity and nature of laws #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Develops more fully explanations of several scientific theories, in particular Newtonian Mechanics and Darwinian Evolutionary Theory #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Locates Newtonian mechanics and Darwinian evolution in their intellectual and cultural contexts #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Includes expanded discussion of the nature of theories, scientific realism and antirealism #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Offers expanded discussion of models, including examples from biology and social science #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Offers expanded discussion of constructivist approaches and the "Sokal Hoax" along with their impact on the humanities and sciences #xE2;#xAC;#xA2; Provides a thoroughly updated Bibliography, Suggested Readings and Glossary.

Table of Contents

Prefacep. xi
Philosophy and Sciencep. 1
Overviewp. 1
What Is Philosophy?p. 1
Philosophy and the Emergence of the Sciencesp. 3
Science and the Divisions of Philosophyp. 5
What if There Are No Questions Left Over when Science Is Finished?p. 6
A Short History of Philosophy as the Philosophy of Sciencep. 8
Summaryp. 18
Study Questionsp. 19
Suggested Readingsp. 19
Why Is Philosophy of Science Important?p. 21
Overviewp. 21
Scientific Questions and Questions about Sciencep. 21
Modern Science Has Implications for Philosophyp. 24
The Cultural Significance of Sciencep. 30
Why Is Science the Only Feature of Western Culture Universally Adopted?p. 33
Summaryp. 35
Study Questionsp. 36
Suggested Readingsp. 36
Scientific Explanationp. 39
Overviewp. 39
Defining Scientific Explanationp. 40
The Role of Laws in Scientific Explanationp. 42
The Covering Law Modelp. 45
Problems for the Covering Law Modelp. 48
A Competing Conception of Scientific Explanationp. 53
Summaryp. 56
Study Questionsp. 57
Suggested Readingsp. 58
Why Do Laws Explain?p. 61
Overviewp. 61
What Is a Law of Nature?p. 62
Counterfactual Support as a Symptom of the Necessity of Lawsp. 63
Counterfactuals and Causationp. 65
Coming to Grips with Nomic Necessityp. 67
Denying the Obvious?p. 74
Summaryp. 77
Study Questionsp. 78
Suggested Readingsp. 78
Causation, Inexact Laws and Statistical Probabilitiesp. 81
Overviewp. 81
Causes as Explainersp. 82
Ceteris Paribus Lawsp. 87
Statistical Laws and Probabilistic Causesp. 89
Explanation as Unificationp. 93
Summaryp. 95
Study Questionsp. 96
Suggested Readingsp. 96
Laws and Explanations in Biology and the "Special Sciences"p. 97
Overviewp. 97
Dissatisfaction with Causal Explanationsp. 98
Proprietary Laws in the "Special Sciences"p. 100
Functional Laws and Biological Explanationsp. 103
Explaining Purposes or Explaining Them Away?p. 106
From Intelligibility to Necessityp. 107
Summaryp. 111
Study Questionsp. 112
Suggested Readingsp. 112
The Structure of Scientific Theoriesp. 115
Overviewp. 115
How Do Theories Work? The Example of Newtonian Mechanicsp. 116
Theories as Explainers: The Hypothetico-Deductive Modelp. 121
The Philosophical Significance of Newtonian Mechanics and Theoriesp. 127
Summaryp. 132
Study Questionsp. 133
Suggested Readingsp. 133
Epistemic and Metaphysical Issues About Scientific Theoriesp. 135
Overviewp. 135
Reduction, Replacement and the Progress of Sciencep. 136
The Problem of Theoretical Termsp. 142
Scientific Realism vs. Antirealismp. 150
Summaryp. 157
Study Questionsp. 158
Suggested Readingsp. 159
Theory Construction vs. Model Buildingp. 161
Overviewp. 161
Theories and Modelsp. 162
Semantic vs. Syntactic Approaches to Theories and Modelsp. 166
A Case Study: Darwin's Theory of Natural Selectionp. 169
Models and Theories in Evolutionary Biologyp. 173
Summaryp. 177
Study Questionsp. 178
Suggested Readingsp. 178
Induction and Probabilityp. 179
Overviewp. 179
The Problem of Inductionp. 180
Statistics and Probability to the Rescue?p. 185
How Much Can Bayes' Theorem Really Help?p. 192
Summaryp. 198
Study Questionsp. 199
Suggested Readingsp. 199
Confirmation, Falsification, Underdeterminationp. 201
Overviewp. 201
Epistemological Problems of Hypothesis Testingp. 201
Induction as a Pseudo-Problem: Popper's Gambitp. 206
Underdeterminationp. 211
Summaryp. 215
Study Questionsp. 216
Suggested Readingsp. 216
Challenges from the History of Sciencep. 219
Overviewp. 219
A Role for History in the Philosophy of Science?p. 220
New Paradigms and Scientific Revolutionsp. 225
Are Scientific Research Programs Rational?p. 230
Summaryp. 234
Study Questionsp. 235
Suggested Readingsp. 236
Naturalism in the Philosophy of Sciencep. 237
Overviewp. 237
Quine and the Surrender of First Philosophyp. 237
Naturalism, Multiple Realizability and Superveniencep. 242
Naturalism's Problem of Justificationp. 248
Summaryp. 250
Study Questionsp. 250
Suggested Readingsp. 251
The Contested Character of Sciencep. 253
Overviewp. 253
Methodological Anarchismp. 254
The "Strong Program" in the Sociology of Scientific Knowledgep. 256
Postmodernism and the Science Warsp. 261
Does the Sokal Hoax Prove Anything?p. 263
Scientism, Sexism and Significant Truthsp. 265
Summaryp. 271
Study Questionsp. 271
Suggested Readingsp. 272
Science, Relativism and Objectivityp. 273
Overviewp. 273
Relativism and Conceptual Schemesp. 273
Dealing with Incommensurabilityp. 277
Conclusion: The Very Idea of a Conceptual Schemep. 281
Study Questionsp. 282
Suggested Readingsp. 282
Glossaryp. 283
Bibliographyp. 293
Indexp. 299
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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