Philosophy of science Books
Cambridge University Press Grounded Consequence for Defeasible Logic
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Cambridge University Press Pierre Gassendi and the Birth of Early Modern Philosophy
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Cambridge University Press A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism Knowing the Unobservable
Book SynopsisScientific realism is the view that our best scientific theories give approximately true descriptions of both observable and unobservable aspects of a mind-independent world. Debates between realists and their critics are at the very heart of the philosophy of science. Anjan Chakravartty traces the contemporary evolution of realism by examining the most promising strategies adopted by its proponents in response to the forceful challenges of antirealist sceptics, resulting in a positive proposal for scientific realism today. He examines the core principles of the realist position, and sheds light on topics including the varieties of metaphysical commitment required, and the nature of the conflict between realism and its empiricist rivals. By illuminating the connections between realist interpretations of scientific knowledge and the metaphysical foundations supporting them, his book offers a compelling vision of how realism can provide an internally consistent and coherent account of scTrade Review“The level of ambition is high, and in my opinion Chakravartty achieves what he aims at….Regardless of whether one is ultimately persuaded by the arguments presented in this book, it is a must-buy for anyone who is serious about the realist/anti-realist debate, as well as for anyone interested in the issue of the metaphysics of science.” --Jacob Busch, University of St Andrews, The Philosophical Quarterly“Chakravartty embraces parts of entity realism and structural realism, but this is only the beginning. The justification for his semirealism includes a big dose of metaphysics, namely his accounts of causation and of natural kinds, among other things. Much of the book is given over to very detailed discussion of these issues. In a short review, I cannot hope to do justice to the full richness of Chakravartty’s subtle and highly original treatment of these matters. Let me close with a simple recommendation to any who want to read the last word on scientific realism – this is it.” --James Robert Brown, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences“Chakravartty is clear and engaging in his writing, and charitable and judicious in his arguments with other philosophers. His book is essential reading for those interested in scientific realism or the metaphysics of science.” --James Ladyman, University of Bristol, Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsTable of ContentsPart I. Scientific Realism Today: 1. Realism and antirealism, metaphysics and empiricism; 2. Selective scepticism: entity realism, structural realism, semirealism; 3. Properties, particulars and concrete structures; Part II. Metaphysical Foundations: 4. Causal realism and causal processes; 5. Dispositions, property identity and laws of nature; 6. Sociability: natural and scientific kinds; Part III. Theory Meets World: 7. Representing and describing: theories and models; 8. Approximate truths about approximate truth.
£37.99
Cambridge University Press Philosophical Foundations for the Practices of Ecology
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Cambridge University Press AgroTechnology A Philosophical Introduction Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Biology
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£24.99
Cambridge University Press Charles Darwin and Victorian Visual Culture 50 Cambridge Studies in NineteenthCentury Literature and Culture Series Number 50
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Cambridge University Press The Crisis in Modernism
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Cambridge University Press Biodiversity and Environmental Philosophy
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Cambridge University Press Philosophy of Experimental Biology
Book SynopsisPhilosophy of Experimental Biology explores some central philosophical issues concerning scientific research in experimental biology, including genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, developmental biology, neurobiology, and microbiology. This book should be of interest to philosophers and historians of science as well as to scientists.Trade ReviewReview of the hardback: 'I feel that Weber's treatment will move the philosophical discussion well beyond Schaffner's original study … strength of Weber lies in combining two ideals. First, his philosophical discussion is based on detailed case studies from biochemistry, molecular biology, developmental genetics, and neurophysiology. Second, despite close attention to actual science, Weber always keeps questions from the general philosophy of science clearly in view … This is a very rich book, dealing with various issues - questions peculiar to experimental biology as well as basic topics from the general philosophy of science … many of Weber's ideas will serve as a point of reference for future philosophical discussions on molecular biology. Philosophy of Experimental Biology ought to be important for anyone interested in the philosophy of biology.' Biology and PhilosophyReview of the hardback: 'Marcel Weber's book is extremely interesting. It overviews a huge spectrum of viewpoints and case studies and surely represents a precious account of the state of art of the philosophy of experimental biology. An aspect that … enriches [the reading] … is Weber's attempt to always furnish his personal, often distinctive viewpoint.' History and Philosophy of the Life SciencesTable of ContentsPreface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Reductionism and the nature of explanations; 3. Discovery: solving biological problems; 4. Scientific inference: testing hypotheses; 5. Experimental systems: a life of their own?; 6. Model organisms: of flies and elephants; 7. Reference and conceptual change: out of Mendel's garden?; 8. Developmental biology and the genetic program: explaining ontogeny; 9. Scientific realism: in search of the truth; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
£35.14
Cambridge University Press Reduction Time and Reality
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£36.09
Cambridge University Press From Physics to Philosophy
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Cambridge University Press Newton as Philosopher
Book SynopsisNewton's philosophical views are unique and uniquely difficult to categorise. In the course of a long career from the early 1670s until his death in 1727, he articulated profound responses to Cartesian natural philosophy and to the prevailing mechanical philosophy of his day. Newton as Philosopher presents Newton as an original and sophisticated contributor to natural philosophy, one who engaged with the principal ideas of his most important predecessor, Renà Descartes, and of his most influential critic, G. W. Leibniz. Unlike Descartes and Leibniz, Newton was systematic and philosophical without presenting a philosophical system, but over the course of his life, he developed a novel picture of nature, our place within it, and its relation to the creator. This rich treatment of his philosophical ideas will be of wide interest to historians of philosophy, science, and ideas.Trade ReviewReview of the hardback: 'Newton as Philosopher is the best and most comprehensive discussion now available of Newton's philosophical views and their relationship with his physics - especially in connection with such vexed issues as the existence of forces, action at a distance, and God's relation to 'absolute space'. It is particularly remarkable for the way in which it very illuminatingly situates these issues within the wider context of early modern philosophy more generally.' Michael Friedman, Stanford UniversityReview of the hardback: 'Janiak argues strongly for Newton as a philosopher, and gives a bold and compelling account of what he labels 'Newton's physical metaphysics'. Because it details the close relationship between natural philosophy and traditional metaphysical themes, his book will engage not only historians of eighteenth-century ideas but also those philosophers of physics who examine historically foundational physical concepts such as space, time and mass.' Christopher Kenny, University of Leeds'… fulfils the task successfully, and proves the good that can come from combining a historically accurate account with a philosophically compelling analysis … Janiak masterfully steers his interpretive analysis through an extraordinarily rich historical material, while the philosophically rigorous narrative takes the reader from one chapter to the next in a compelling way. The final result is a brilliant book that has an important story to tell about Newton's "physical metaphysics" and it makes it an occasion for a thousand wider meditations … Janiak's Newton sheds new light on the vexed issue of the relationship between Newton's physics and his metaphysical and religious beliefs, and on how the latter informed and illuminated the former … Janiak's monograph offers an essential contribution to the ever-growing field of history and philosophy of science, and proves once more what can be achieved by masterfully integrating intellectual history of science with philosophy.' The Journal of PhilosophyTable of ContentsPreface; Notes on text and translations; 1. Newton as philosopher, the very idea; 2. Physics and metaphysics: three interpretations; 3. Do forces exist? Contesting the mechanical philosophy, I; 4. Matter and mechanism: contesting the mechanical philosophy, II; 5. Space in physics and metaphysics: contra Descartes; 6. God and natural philosophy; Bibliography; index.
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Cambridge University Press Darwinian Heresies
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Cambridge University Press Making Sense of Heritability Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology
Book SynopsisIn this book, Neven Sesardic defends the view that it is both possible and useful to measure the separate contributions of heredity and environment to the explanation of human psychological differences. He critically examines the view - very widely accepted by scientists, social scientists and philosophers of science - that heritability estimates have no causal implications and are devoid of any interest. In a series of clearly written chapters he introduces the reader to the problems and subjects the arguments to close philosophical scrutiny. His conclusion is that anti-heritability arguments are based on conceptual confusions and misunderstandings of behavioural genetics. His book is a fresh and compelling intervention in a very contentious debate.Trade Review"This si an intelligent book that addresses one of the most controversial and emotional debates that has occurred in psychology over the last half of the 20th century." - David A. Mrazek, PsycCritiquesTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The nature-nurture debate: a premature burial?; 2. A tangle of interactions: separating genetic and environmental influences; 3. Lost in correlations? Direct and indirect genetic causes; 4. From individuals to groups: genetics and race; 5. Genes and malleability; 6. Science and sensitivity; 7. Conclusions.
£32.29
Cambridge University Press Genetics and Philosophy
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Cambridge University Press The Evidence for the Top Quark
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Cambridge University Press Thinking about Evolution
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Cambridge University Press Serendipity Fortune and the Prepared Mind Darwin College Lectures
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Cambridge University Press Genetic Analysis
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Cambridge University Press Objecting to God
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Cambridge University Press Form and Function in Developmental Evolution
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Cambridge University Press The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Darwin and Evolutionary Thought
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Cambridge University Press Nietzsches AntiDarwinism
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Cambridge University Press The Species Problem
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Cambridge University Press Explanation and Teleology in Aristotles Science of Nature
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Cambridge University Press Perception Realism and the Problem of Reference
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Cambridge University Press Cambridge IGCSE Physics Teachers Resource CDROM Cambridge International IGCSE
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Cambridge University Press Nominalism and Realism Volume 1
Book SynopsisThis is a study, in two volumes, of one of the longest standing philosophical problems: the problem of universals. In volume I David Armstrong surveys and criticizes the main approaches and solutions to the problems that have been canvassed, rejecting the various forms of nominalism and 'Platonic' realism.Table of ContentsPart I. Preliminaries: 1. Predicates; Part II. Theories of Universals: 2. Predicate nominalism; 3. Concept nominalism; 4. Class nominalism; 5. Resemblance nominalism; 6. Arguments for realism; 7. Transcendent universals; 8. Properties and relations as particulars; Part III. Particulars: 9. Are particulars reducible to universals?; 10. The Lockean account of particulars; 11. Particulars and universals; 12. A world-hypothesis.
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Cambridge University Press Probability and Evidence Cambridge Studies in Philosophy
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Cambridge University Press Literacy in Traditional Societies
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Cambridge University Press The Investigation of the Physical World
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Cambridge University Press The Limits of Concept Formation in Natural Science
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Cambridge University Press Philosophical Papers Volume 2 Philosophy and the Human Sciences Cambridge Paperback Library
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Cambridge University Press Particles and Paradoxes
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Cambridge University Press An Introduction to Science Studies The Philosophical and Social Aspects of Science and Technology
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Cambridge University Press The Birth of History and Philosophy of Science Keplers A Defence of Tycho against Ursus with Essays on its Provenance and Significance
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Cambridge University Press Defending Einstein
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Cambridge University Press The Chain of Change
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Cambridge University Press Defining Science William Whewell Natural Knowledge and Public Debate in Early Victorian Britain 27 Ideas in Context Series Number 27
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Cambridge University Press The Shape of Space
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Cambridge University Press Complexity and Evolution
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Cambridge University Press The Shape of Space
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Cambridge University Press Divine Will and the Mechanical Philosophy
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Cambridge University Press The Immune Self
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Cambridge University Press Explaining Chaos
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Cambridge University Press Philosophical Foundations of the Social Sciences
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Cambridge University Press Purpose in the Living World
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Cambridge University Press Reflection Without Rules
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