Philosophy of Science A Contemporary Introduction

Name: Philosophy of Science A Contemporary Introduction
Price: 9.23 USD
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ISBN: 9780415891776

ISBN-10: 0415891779

ISBN-13: 9780415891776

Edition: 3rd 2012 (Revised)

Authors: Alex Rosenberg

List price: $38.99

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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.

Book details

List price: $38.99
Edition: 3rd
Copyright year: 2012
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Publication date: 7/12/2011
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 308
Size: 6.10" wide x 9.13" long x 0.71" tall
Weight: 0.990
Language: English

Alex Rosenberg is the R. Taylor Cole Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Philosophy of Biology at Duke University. He has published 11 books on the philosophy of science including The Philosophy of Biology: A Contemporary Introduction (2007) with Daniel McShea. In 1993, he won the Lakatos Prize in the Philosophy of Science and in 2007 was the National Phi Beta Kappa Rommell lecturer in philosophy.Robert Arp is Research Associate with the National Center for Biomedical Ontology at the University of Buffalo and works with the Ontology Research Group at the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences in Buffalo, New York. A PhD…



Preface



Philosophy and Science


Overview


What Is Philosophy?


Philosophy and the Emergence of the Sciences


Science and the Divisions of Philosophy


What if There Are No Questions Left Over when Science Is Finished?


A Short History of Philosophy as the Philosophy of Science


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Why Is Philosophy of Science Important?


Overview


Scientific Questions and Questions about Science


Modern Science Has Implications for Philosophy


The Cultural Significance of Science


Why Is Science the Only Feature of Western Culture Universally Adopted?


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Scientific Explanation


Overview


Defining Scientific Explanation


The Role of Laws in Scientific Explanation


The Covering Law Model


Problems for the Covering Law Model


A Competing Conception of Scientific Explanation


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Why Do Laws Explain?


Overview


What Is a Law of Nature?


Counterfactual Support as a Symptom of the Necessity of Laws


Counterfactuals and Causation


Coming to Grips with Nomic Necessity


Denying the Obvious?


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Causation, Inexact Laws and Statistical Probabilities


Overview


Causes as Explainers


Ceteris Paribus Laws


Statistical Laws and Probabilistic Causes


Explanation as Unification


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Laws and Explanations in Biology and the "Special Sciences"


Overview


Dissatisfaction with Causal Explanations


Proprietary Laws in the "Special Sciences"


Functional Laws and Biological Explanations


Explaining Purposes or Explaining Them Away?


From Intelligibility to Necessity


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



The Structure of Scientific Theories


Overview


How Do Theories Work? The Example of Newtonian Mechanics


Theories as Explainers: The Hypothetico-Deductive Model


The Philosophical Significance of Newtonian Mechanics and Theories


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Epistemic and Metaphysical Issues About Scientific Theories


Overview


Reduction, Replacement and the Progress of Science


The Problem of Theoretical Terms


Scientific Realism vs. Antirealism


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Theory Construction vs. Model Building


Overview


Theories and Models


Semantic vs. Syntactic Approaches to Theories and Models


A Case Study: Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection


Models and Theories in Evolutionary Biology


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Induction and Probability


Overview


The Problem of Induction


Statistics and Probability to the Rescue?


How Much Can Bayes' Theorem Really Help?


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Confirmation, Falsification, Underdetermination


Overview


Epistemological Problems of Hypothesis Testing


Induction as a Pseudo-Problem: Popper's Gambit


Underdetermination


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Challenges from the History of Science


Overview


A Role for History in the Philosophy of Science?


New Paradigms and Scientific Revolutions


Are Scientific Research Programs Rational?


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Naturalism in the Philosophy of Science


Overview


Quine and the Surrender of First Philosophy


Naturalism, Multiple Realizability and Supervenience


Naturalism's Problem of Justification


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



The Contested Character of Science


Overview


Methodological Anarchism


The "Strong Program" in the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge


Postmodernism and the Science Wars


Does the Sokal Hoax Prove Anything?


Scientism, Sexism and Significant Truths


Summary


Study Questions


Suggested Readings



Science, Relativism and Objectivity


Overview


Relativism and Conceptual Schemes


Dealing with Incommensurability


Conclusion: The Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme


Study Questions


Suggested Readings


Glossary


Bibliography


Index