Philosophy of science Books

Book SynopsisCollects works that address key challenges for a feminist approach to knowledge and scientific practice. This title is suitable for both students and scholars of feminist epistemology and philosophy of science. It offers a mix of contributions from well-established feminist scholars and the next generation of feminist epistemologists.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science in the Twenty-first Century; Heidi E. Grasswick.- I Intersections: Feminism, Epistemology, and Science Studies.- 1. The Marginalization of Feminist Epistemology and What That Reveals About Epistemology ‘Proper’; Phyllis Rooney.- 2. Contextualism in Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science; Kristina Rolin.- 3. Altogether Now: A Virtue-theoretic Approach to Pluralism in Feminist Epistemology; Nancy Daukas.- 4. The Implications of the New Materialisms for Feminist Epistemology; Samantha Frost.- 5. Interrogating the Modernity vs. Tradition Contrast: Whose Science and Technology for Whose Social Progress?; Sandra Harding.- II Democracy and Diversity in Knowledge Practices.- 6. Is Millian Democratic Science the Right Model for Feminist Science?; Kristen Intemann.- 7. What’s in it for me? The Benefits of Diversity in Scientific Communities; Carla Fehr.- 8. What Knowers Know Well: Women, Work and the Academy; Alison Wylie.- III Contexts of Oppression: Accountability in Knowing.- 9. More than Skin Deep: Situated Communities and the Case of Agent Orange in the Aluoi Valley, Viet Nam; Nancy McHugh.- 10. ‘They Treated Him Well’: Fact, Fiction, and the Politics of Knowledge; Lorraine Code.- 11. Wrongful Requests and Strategic Refusals to Understand; Gaile Pohlhaus, Jr.- 12. Liberatory Epistemology and Sharing Knowledge: Querying the Norms; Heidi E. Grasswick.- Index.

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Book SynopsisJames Robert Brown is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, Canada. His previous publications include The Rational and the Social (Routledge, 1989), Smoke and Mirrors: How ScienceReflects Reality (Routledge, 1994), Philosophy of Mathematics (Routledge, Second Edition 2008) and The Laboratory of the Mind (Routledge, Second Edition 2009), Who Rules in Science: A Guide to the Wars (Harvard 2001), and Platonism, Naturalism, and Mathematical Knowledge (Routledge 2011).Trade ReviewThis book delivers twice on its title: it offers a comprehensive discussion of key thinkers in philosophy of science of the past 150 years and the authors are a dozen of their most distinguished and innovative successors at work today. The result shows a vibrant discipline in which each generation reflects on—and moves beyond—the classic debates. An insightful and inspiring survey of philosophy of science, its history, and its progress. -- James W. McAllister, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Leiden, The Netherlands and Editor of International Studies in the Philosophy of ScienceTable of Contents1. Introduction James Robert Brown; 2. Experience and Necessity: Whewell and Mill Laura Snyder; 3. Conventionalism: Poincare, Duhem, Reichenbach; 4. The Vienna Circle: Carnap and Neurath Alan Richardson; 5. Logical Empiricism: Hempel and Quine Martin Curd; 6. Induction and Falsification: Popper Steve Fuller; 7. Historical Approaches: Kuhn, Lakatos and Feyerabend Martin Carrier; 8. Sociology of Science: Bloor, Collins, Latour Martin Kusch; 9. Realism: Putnam and van Fraassen Stathis Psillos; 10. Beyond Theories: Hacking and Cartwright; 11. Feminist Critiques: Harding and Longino Janet Kourany; 12. Current Trends James Robert Brown; Further Reading; Index.

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Book Synopsis1 Travelling to a Land We Cannot See.- 2 The Open Mind.- 3 Science in Being, Research and the Liberal University.- 4 The Consequences of Action.- 5 I. Uncommon Sense.- II. An Open House.- 6 Prospects in the Arts and Sciences.- 7 An Inward Look.- 8 Tradition and Discovery.- 9 Progress in Freedom.- 10 On Science and Culture.- 11 The Power to Act The Scientific Revolution and its Effects on Democratic Institutions.- 12 A World Without War.- 13 L'Intime et le Comunthe Intimate and the Open.- 14 To Live with Ourselves.- 15 Physics and Man's Understanding, For the Smithsonian Institution Bicentennial.- 16 A Time in Need.- Acknowledgements and Bibliography.Table of Contents1 Travelling to a Land We Cannot See.- 2 The Open Mind.- 3 Science in Being, Research and the Liberal University.- 4 The Consequences of Action.- 5 I. Uncommon Sense.- II. An Open House.- 6 Prospects in the Arts and Sciences.- 7 An Inward Look.- 8 Tradition and Discovery.- 9 Progress in Freedom.- 10 On Science and Culture.- 11 The Power to Act The Scientific Revolution and its Effects on Democratic Institutions.- 12 A World Without War.- 13 L’Intime et le Comun—the Intimate and the Open.- 14 To Live with Ourselves.- 15 Physics and Man’s Understanding, For the Smithsonian Institution Bicentennial.- 16 A Time in Need.- Acknowledgements and Bibliography.

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Trade ReviewSophie Allen has written a much needed critical introduction to properties. Written in a clear and accessible language, it provides an excellent first avenue into this important philosophical topic. Highly recommended. -- Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra, Professor of Metaphysics, University of Oxford, UKThe question of how many things can share a nature — the question of ‘one over many’ — is one of the oldest and most persistent in metaphysics. But the contemporary discussion can seem obscure and over-technical for the beginner. Sophie Allen has provided just what the beginning student needs: a clear, punchy, authoritative introduction to theories of properties in recent philosophy, packed with arguments and information. Highly recommended. * Tim Crane, Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge, UK *Table of Contents1. Introduction PART I: QUESTIONS OF ONTOLOGY 2. Universals 3. Tropes 4. Properties as Sets 5. Resemblance Classes 6. Properties as Ungrounded Entities PART II: DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF PROPERTIES:WHICH PROPERTIES ARE THERE, AND WHAT CAN THEY DO? 7. Properties at Work 8. Are Properties Sparse or Abundant? 9. The Ontological Status of Properties Conclusion Glossary References Index

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Book SynopsisAnimals and Science examines the debates, from the Renaissance to the present, surrounding issues of animal rights, consciousness, and self-awareness.Animals and Science examines what science has (and has not) taught us about the nature of nonhuman animals and explores the moral, religious, social, and scientific implications of those teachings. It shows how the scientific study of animals, especially their cognitive abilities, has transformed our understanding of them. Animals and Science traces our evolving understanding of animal pain and considers its moral relevance to humans. It discusses Darwin's belief-shattering notion that species differences are not absolute, then traces its impact to the present day.Ultimately, Animals and Science is about the nature of science—the kinds of questions science can and cannot answer, and the role of theory in shaping the interpretation of evidence. 12 thought-provoking essays trace the evolution of our ideas about animals and their impact on science, medicine, and society The book includes an extensive collection of primary source documents, ranging from Thomas Aquinas' Summa contra Gentiles to Peter Singer's Animal Liberation Trade Review"In this philosophical treatment of the history of humankind's relationship with animals, Shanks provides the broad historical background and ethical framework . . . the reading is a pleasure and the rewards are great." - School Library Journal"[V]ery useful book . . . The writing is clear and interesting . . . Animals in Science will be a valuable addition to any public or academic library." - American Reference Books Annual

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Book SynopsisA collection of essays investigating key historical and scientific questions relating to the concept of natural purpose in Kant's philosophy of biology. Understanding Purpose is an exploration of the central concept of natural purpose [Naturzweck] in Kant's philosophy of biology. Kant's work in this area is marked by a strong teleological concern: living organisms, in his view, are qualitatively different from mechanistic devices, and as a result they cannot be understood by means of the same principles. At the same time, Kant's own use of the concept of purpose does not presuppose any theological commitments, and is merely "regulative"; that is, it is employed as a heuristic device. The contributors to this volume also investigate the following key historical questions relating to Kant's philosophy of biology: How does it relate to European work in the life sciences that was done before Kant arrived on the scene? How did Kant's unique approach to the philosophy of biology in turn influence later work in this area? The issues explored in this volume are as pertinent to the history of philosophy as they are to the history of science -- it is precisely the blurred boundaries between these two disciplines that allows for new perspectives on Kantianism and early nineteenth-century German biology to emerge. Contributors: Jean-Claude Dupont, Mark Fisher, Philippe Huneman, Robert J. Richards, Phillip R. Sloan, Stéphane Schmitt, and John Zammito. Philippe Huneman is researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unit of the Université Paris.Table of ContentsPre-Kantian Revival of Epigenesis: Caspar Friedrich Wolff's De formatione intestinorum (1768-69) - Jean-Claude Dupont Kant's Persistent Ambivalence toward Epigenesis, 1764-90 - John H. Zammito Reflexive Judgment and Wolffian Embryology: Kant's Shift between the First and the Third Critiques - Philippe Huneman Kant's Explanatory Natural History: Generation and Classification of Organisms in Kant's Natural Philosophy - Mark Fisher Succession of Functions and Classifications in Post-Kantian Naturphilosophie around 1800 - Stéphane Schmitt Goethe's Use of Kant in the Erotics of Nature - Robert J. Richards Kant and British Bioscience - Phillip R. Sloan

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Book SynopsisThe book offers a collection of essays on various aspects of Leibniz’s scientific thought, written by historians of science and world-leading experts on Leibniz. The essays deal with a vast array of topics on the exact sciences: Leibniz’s logic, mereology, the notion of infinity and cardinality, the foundations of geometry, the theory of curves and differential geometry, and finally dynamics and general epistemology. Several chapters attempt a reading of Leibniz’s scientific works through modern mathematical tools, and compare Leibniz’s results in these fields with 19th- and 20th-Century conceptions of them. All of them have special care in framing Leibniz’s work in historical context, and sometimes offer wider historical perspectives that go much beyond Leibniz’s researches. A special emphasis is given to effective mathematical practice rather than purely epistemological thought. The book is addressed to all scholars of the exact sciences who have an interest in historical research and Leibniz in particular, and may be useful to historians of mathematics, physics, and epistemology, mathematicians with historical interests, and philosophers of science at large.Trade Review“The volume should be of value to scholars of Leibniz with interests in the ‘exact sciences’ and the formal dimensions of his thinking, as well as to historians and philosophers concerned with understanding how Leibniz’s thinking anticipates later approaches. … the volume is a valuable contribution to our understanding of Leibniz’s projects in the exact sciences.” (Christopher P. Noble, Metascience, August 20, 2020)Table of ContentsChapter 1. Leibniz on the Logic of Conceptual Containment and Coincidence (Marko Malink and Anubav Vasudevan).- Chapter 2. Leibniz’s Mereology (Massimo Mugnai).- Chapter 3. Leibniz in Cantor’s Paradise: A Dialogue on the Actual Infinite (Richard T.W. Arthur).- Chapter 4. Leibniz and the Continuity of Space (Vincenzo De Risi).- Chapter 5. On the Plurality of Spaces in Leibniz (Valérie Debuiche and David Rabouin).- Chapter 6. One String Attached: Geometrical Exactness in Leibniz’s Parisian Manuscripts (Davide Crippa).- Chapter 7. Leibniz and the Calculus of Variations (Jürgen Jost).- Chapter 8. Teleology and Realism in Leibniz’s Philosophy of Science (Nabeel Hamid).

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Book SynopsisThough thousands of articles and books have been published on various aspects of the Manhattan Project, this book is the first comprehensive single-volume history prepared by a specialist for curious readers without a scientific background. This project, the United States Army’s program to develop and deploy atomic weapons in World War II, was a pivotal event in human history. The author presents a wide-ranging survey that not only tells the story of how the project was organized and carried out, but also introduces the leading personalities involved and features simplified but accurate descriptions of the underlying science and the engineering challenges. The technical points are illustrated by reader-friendly graphics. . Trade Review“The book is written in a clear and powerful language, and it involves a reader as a catching detective novel. Multiple memoirs and archives are cited, plenty of rare historical pictures and illustrations are shown. The book presents a fascinating history of science and technology, management and politics, giving to readers a view and feeling of participation in one of the most pivotal undertakings in human history which is a big part of our contemporary world.” (Stan Lipovetsky, Technometrics, Vol. 64 (2), 2022)Table of ContentsIntroduction: An Overview of the Manhattan Project.- Background: A Brief but Friendly Tour of Nuclear Physics.- Organization: Coordinating Government and Army Support.- Design: The Los Alamos Laboratory.- Production: Uranium and Plutonium.- Testing: Project Trinity.- Deployment: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.- Legacy: The Cold War, the Nuclear Landscape, and Possible Futures.

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Book SynopsisThis volume is the first book-length study of disguised forms of plagiarism that mar the body of published research in humanities disciplines. As a contribution to applied research ethics, this practical guide offers a typology of the principal forms of disguised plagiarism. It provides detailed analyses, in-depth case studies, and useful flow charts to assist researchers, editors, and publishers in protecting the integrity of the body of published research literature. Disguised plagiarism is more subtle than copy-and-paste plagiarism; all its varieties involve some additional concealment that creates further distance between the plagiarizing text and its source. These disguised forms are the most difficult forms of plagiarism to detect. Readers of the volume will become acquainted with the subtler forms of plagiarism that corrupt the production and dissemination of knowledge in humanities fields. The book is valuable not only to those interested in research ethics, but also to those in humanities fields including philosophy, theology, and history.Table of ContentsCh.1 Introduction.-Ch.2 Compression Plagiarism.-Ch.3 Translation Plagiarism.- Ch.4 Dispersal Plagiarism.-Ch.5 Magisterial Plagiarism.-Ch.6 Exposition Plagiarism.-Ch.7 Template Plagiarism.

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Book SynopsisMany people, including physicists, are confused about what the Second Law of thermodynamics really means, about how it relates to the arrow of time, and about whether it can be derived from classical mechanics. They also wonder what entropy really is: Is it all about information? But, if so, then, what is its relation to fluxes of heat?One might ask similar questions about probabilities: Do they express subjective judgments by us, humans, or do they reflect facts about the world, i.e. frequencies. And what notion of probability is used in the natural sciences, in particular statistical mechanics?This book addresses all of these questions in the clear and pedagogical style for which the author is known. Although valuable as accompaniment to an undergraduate course on statistical mechanics or thermodynamics, it is not a standard course book. Instead it addresses both the essentials and the many subtle questions that are usually brushed under the carpet in such courses. As one of the most lucid accounts of the above questions, it provides enlightening reading for all those seeking answers, including students, lecturers, researchers and philosophers of science.Table of ContentsWhat We Need from Thermodynamics.- What Are Probabilities?.- Dynamical Systems.- Statistical Mechanics 1 : The Nature of Equilibrium.- Statistical Mechanics 2: Irreversibility.- Demystifying Entropy.- Comparison with Quantum Mechanics.

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Book SynopsisChapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Moral Philosophy is not What it Used to Be: Reflections on Three Decades of Anti-Theory.- Chapter 3. Feyerabend's Asymmetry Argument for Epistemological Anarchism.- Chapter 4. The Scientific Method and The Moral Method.- Chapter 5. Against Theory and Method in Ethics and Philosophy of Science.- Chapter 6. Ethical Description as a Form of Anti Theory.- Chapter 7. Overcoming Metaethics: Interpretation, Objectivity, and Realism.- Chapter 8. What is it Like to See an Animal? Self-Examination and the Moral Relevance of Ordinary Descriptions of Animals.- Chapter 9. Anti-Theory in Philosophy: A Case for Pragmatism.- Chapter 10. The Dangers of Best Practices': Against Supposedly Revolutionary Theories of Evidence in Medicine.

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Book SynopsisPreface.- Foreword.- Introduction: The task of philosophy.- Chapter 1. Philosophy and rationality.- Chapter 2. Kant and Hume on causality.- Chapter 3. What philosophy can learn from the special development of physics.- Chapter 4. The given system of sciences.- Chapter 5. The transcendental deduction of the conceptual conditions for any possible description of reality.- Chapter 6. Pure reason in ethics.- Chapter 7. Pure reason in politics.- Conclusion: The absolute truth.

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Book Synopsis1 Introduction (Roman Frigg, J. McKenzie Alexander, Laurenz Hudetz, Miklos Rédei, Lewis Ross and John Worrall).- 2 Mathematical Methodology: For the Imre Lakatos Centenary, November 2021 (Philip Kitcher).- 3 Proofs as dialogues: the enduring significance of Lakatos for the philosophy of mathematical practice (Catarina Dutilh Novaes).- 4 Lakatos and the Euclidean Programme (A.C. Paseau and Wesley Wrigley).- 5 Proofs and Refutations, Non-Classically and Game Theoretically (Can Bas¸kent).- 6 Extending Heuristics: Discovery in Logic, Mathematics, and the Sciences (Otávio Bueno).- 7 The case of early Copernicanism: epistemic luck vs. predictivist vindication (Vincenzo Crupi).- 8 The Bayesian Research Programme in the Methodology of Science, or Lakatos Meets Bayes (Stephan Hartmann).- 9 Lakatos’s Naturalism(s): Distinguishing between Rational Reconstructions and Normative Explanations (Thodoris Dimitrakos).- 10 Heuristic, Physics Avoidance and the Growth of Knowledge (Jack Ritchie).- 11 Beyond footnotes: Lakatos’s meta-philosophy and the history of science (Samuel Schindler).- 12 Cholesterol and Cardio-Vascular Disease: Degenerating Research Programmes in Current Medical Science (John Worrall).- 13 Trade-offs and Progress in Cancer Science (Anya Plutynski).- 14 Epilogue: Scientific Theory-Change and Rationality: Lakatos and the “Popper- Kuhn Debate” (John Worrall).- Index.

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Book Synopsis1 The Heuristic View: Historical Roots and Emerging Perspectives (Emiliano Ippoliti, Fabio Sterpetti).- 2 The Two Paradigms of Logic (Carlo Cellucci).- 3 Lakatos’ Contribution to the Philosophy of Mathematics (Donald Gillies).- 4 Lakatos, Cellucci, and Heuristic Philosophy of Mathematics (Otavio Bueno).- 5 Problem-Driven Mathematical Explanations in Science (Alan Baker).- 6 Deductive Theories and Non-Deductive Knowledge (Alexander C. Paseau).- 7 Mathematics as Objective Knowledge: Discovering How to Make the World Intelligible (Lorenzo Magnani).- 8 Identifying Multiple Levels of Heuristic Reasoning Used in Scientific Model Construction: A Framework Grounded in Imagistic Processing (John J. Clement).- 9 The Efficient Market Hypothesis: A Heuristic Appraisal (Emiliano Ippoliti).- 10 From Physics to Metaphysics: Aristotle’s Heuristic Path (Diana Quarantotto).- 11 There Is a Logician at the Desk! A New Profile for an Old Category of Scholars (Miriam Franchella).- 12 Teaching Mathematics and the Two-Language Problem: Toward Heuristic Reasoning Being the Praxis of the Mathematics Classroom Experience (Marshall Gordon).- 13 The Heuristic View and Anti-Exceptionalism about Logic (Fabio Sterpetti).

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Book SynopsisPreface.- Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Agency.- Chapter 3. Quantum Mechanics.- Chapter 4. QBism: Integrating Agency and Quantum Mechanics.- Chapter 5. Projective Simulation.- Chapter 6. Phenomenology.- Chapter 7. Conclusion.- Index.

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Book Synopsis1 Introduction.- Part I: Objective Realism and Philosophy of Science.- 2 A Map of the Realism-Anti-Realism Debates.- 3 What is Objective Realism?.- 4 Objective Realism in Philosophy of Science.- 5 The Double Stalemate of Objective Scientific Realism.- Part II New Realism for the Philosophy of Science.- 6 Correlationism.- 7 The Problem of Ancestrality.- 8 Towards the New Scientific Realism.- 9 A Short Conclusion.- Index.

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Book SynopsisAuthor’s note on the text.- Abstract.- Acknowledgements.- List of abbreviations.- Part I: Retackling the Demarcation Problem.- Chapter 1: The Multicriterial Approach to the Problem of Demarcation.- Chapter 2: A Survey of the Properties of Science for Multicriterial Demarcation.- Part II: Case Studies.- Chapter 3: The Properties of Genethliac Astrology.- Chapter 4: The Properties of Parapsychology.- Chapter 5: The Properties of Creation “Science”.- Chapter 6: The Properties of Homeopathy.- Chapter 7: The Properties of Feng Shui.- Chapter 8: The Properties of Common Sense.- Chapter 9: The Properties of Art.- Chapter 10: The Properties of Religion.- Chapter 11: The Properties of Analytic Philosophy.- Chapter 12: The Properties of History.- Chapter 13: The Properties of the Formal Sciences.- Chapter 14: The Properties of Physics.- Chapter 15: The Properties of Chemistry.- Chapter 16: The Properties of Astronomy.- Chapter 17: The Properties of Biology.- Chapter 18: The Properties of Psychology.- Chapter 19: The Properties of Sociology.- Part III: A Working Demarcation.- Chapter 20: Concluding Remarks: Theoretical Import and Practical Applications.- Appendix 1: Fuzzy Logic for the Demarcation of Science.- Appendix 2: Social Beliefs without Entirely Social Causes.- Index.

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Book SynopsisIntroduction.- 1 The Concept of Emergence.- 2 Complexity Measures.- 3 Complexity and Emergence.- 4 Parametric Complexity and the Evolution of Scientific Theories.- 5 Conclusions.

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Book Synopsis1 Critiques of Hume’s Argument against Inductions.- 2 Can Coherentism Solve the Problem of Inductions?.- 3 Can the Local Theory of Induction Solve the problem of Induction?.- 4 The Excessive Requirements on the Use of IBE.- 5 The Template for Generating Philosophical Problems.- 6 Inductive Skepticism and the Scientific Realism Debate.- 7 The Pessimistic Inductions vs. the Counter-Inductions.- 8 Stage Theory of Scientific Development.- 9 The Evolutionary Debunking Argument against Scientific Realism.- 10 Merging the Moral Realism Debate with Scientific Realism Debate.- 11 In Defense of Moral Functionalism12 Does Mathematical Realism Help Moral Realism?.- 13 Metaethical and Non-Metaethical Explanations of Moral Progress.- 14 The Implications of Metaethical Theories for Scientific and Moral Progress.- 15 The Evolutionary Debunking Argument for Moral Skepticism.- 16 The Problem of Moral Induction.- Index.

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Book SynopsisIntroduction (Darren Bradley).- Part 1: Language Pluralism and Metaphysics.- 1 Ontological disputes, Stalemates and Metaontological Pluralism (Delia Belleri).- 2 (Neo)Carnap and (Neo)Quine as quiet Relativists (Suki Finn).- 3 Carnap, Language Pluralism, and Rationality (Matti Eklund).- 4 The debate between Carnap and Quine? (Jody Azzouni).-  5 How (Not) to Avoid Metaphysics (Otávio Bueno).- Part 2: Theory Choice in Philosophy.- 6 Theory choice, primitiveness, and metaontology (Jiri Benovsky).- 7 Carnap and Theoretical Virtues (Jonathan Tallant).- 8 Material Composition and Bayesian Priors (Darren Bradley).- 9 Hume’s Razor vs. Humean Recombination (Sam Cowling).- 10 A Carnapian Vision for Philosophy: Improving Concepts for Non-mirroring Understanding (Eve Kitsik).- 11 Against Dismissivism (Andrew Brenner).

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Book SynopsisPart I: Epistemic opacity.- 1 In Which Ways is Machine Learning Opaque? (Claus Beisbart).- 2 How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Opacity (Nico Formanek).- 3 Epistemic opacity and scientific realism and anti-realism (Jack Casey).- Part II: Justification.- 4 Beyond transparency: computational reliabilism as an externalist epistemology for algorithms (Juan M. Durán).- 5 Challenges for Computational Reliabilism: Epistemic Warrants, Endogeneity and Error-Based Opacity in Machine Learning (Ramón Alvarado).- 6 Can XAI Justify? (Carlos Zednik, Philippe Verreault-Julien).- Part III: Scientific Explanation (XAI) .- 7 Axe the X in XAI: A Plea for Understandable AI (Andrés Páez).- 8 Machine Learning models as Mathematics (Stefan Buijsman).- 9 From Explanations to Interpretability and Back (Tim Räz).- Part IV: Scientific Understanding and Interpretability.- 10 Explanation hacking: The Perils of Algorithmic Recourse (Emily Sullivan, Atoosa Kasirzadeh).- 11 Stakes and Understanding the Decisions of Artificial Intelligent Systems (Eva Schmidt).- Part V: Scientific Models and Representation.- 12 Representation Learning Without Representationalism. A Non-Representationalist Account of Deep Learning Models in Scientific Practice (Phillip Hintikka Kieval).- 13 Artificial Neural Nets and the Representation of Human Concepts (Timo Freisleben).- 14 Defining Formal Validity Criteria for Machine Learning Models (Chiara Manganini, Giuseppe Primiero).- Part VI: Scientific practice and scientific values in ML.- 15 Why are Human Epistemic Agents not Displaced in Machine Learning Scientific Inquiries? (Sahra A. Styger, Marianne de Heer Kloots, Oskar van der Wal, and Federica Russo).- 16 Values, Inductive Risk, and Societal-Epistemic Coupledness in Machine Learning Models (Milou Jansen, Koray Karaca).- 17 Machine Learning and the Ethics of Induction (Emanuele Ratti).- Part VII: ML in the Particular Sciences.- 18 Beyond Classification and Prediction: The Promise of Physics-Informed Machine Learning in Astronomy and Cosmology (Helen Meskhidze).- 19 Machine Learning Discoveries and Scientific Understanding in Particle Physics: Problems and Prospects (Florian J. Boge and Henk W. de Regt).- 20 Don’t Fear the Bogeyman: On Why There is no Prediction-Understanding Trade-Off for Deep-Learning in Neuroscience (Barnaby Crook, Lena Kästner).- 21 Artificial Intelligence in Climate Science: From Machine Learning to Neural Networks (Greg Lusk).- 22 Machine Learning in Public Health and the Prediction-Intervention Gap (Thomas Grote, Oliver Buchholz).

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Book SynopsisScientists have always attempted to explain the world in terms of a few unifying principles. In the fifth century B.C. Democritus boldly claimed that reality is simply a collection of indivisible and eternal parts or atoms. Over the centuries his doctrine has remained a landmark, and much progress in physics is due to its distinction between subjective perception and objective reality. This book discusses theory reduction in physics, which states that the whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts: the properties of things are directly determined by their constituent parts. Reductionism deals with the relation between different theories that address different levels of reality, and uses extrapolations to apply that relation in different sciences. Reality shows a complex structure of connections, and the dream of a unified interpretation of all phenomena in several simple laws continues to attract anyone with genuine philosophical and scientific interests. If the most radical reductionist point of view is correct, the relationship between disciplines is strictly inclusive: chemistry becomes physics, biology becomes chemistry, and so on. Eventually, only one science, indeed just a single theory, would survive, with all others merging in the Theory of Everything. Is the current coexistence of different sciences a mere historical venture which will end when the Theory of Everything has been established? Can there be a unified description of nature? Rather than an analysis of full reductionism, this book focuses on aspects of theory reduction in physics and stimulates reflection on related questions: is there any evidence of actual reduction? Are the examples used in the philosophy of science too simplistic? What has been endangered by the search for (the) ultimate truth? Has the dream of reductionist reason created any monsters? Is big science one such monster? What is the point of embedding science Y within science X, if predictions cannot be made on that basis?Table of ContentsPreface.- A Galilean Dialogue.- A random journey.- History.- Reductionism: the philosophical point of view.- Reduction in physics and philosophy.- Emergence.- A first attempt to tame complexity.- A short history of statistical mechanics.- Towards a systematic theory.- The paradigmatic Brownian motion.- Critical Phenomena.- Discussion.- From microscopic to macroscopic realities.- The problem of irreversibility.- Irreversibility and emergence.- From microscopic to macroscopic equations.- From atoms to cold fronts.- Concluding remarks.- Determinism, chaos and reductionism.- General remarks on determinism.- An excursus on chaos.- Chaos and complexity.- Chaos and probability.- Quarrels on chaos and determinism.- Concluding remarks.- Quantum Mechanics.- Classical versus quantum mechanics.- Chemistry vs applied Quantum Mechanics.- Summary and conclusions.- Some conclusions.- Unity of science beyond reductionism.- It from bit?.- Concluding remarks.

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