Philosophy of science Books
Cambridge University Press Machine Dreams
Book SynopsisMachine Dreams recounts the story of how the computer came to transform the very content of American economics, and how the mathematician John von Neumann inadvertently became the most important thinker for the economics profession in the 21st century.Trade Review'In Machine Dreams the most exciting historian of economic thought of our time takes on one of the most fascinating themes of the intellectual history of the twentieth century - the dream of creating machines that can think and how this has affected the social sciences. The result is an extraordinary book that deserves to be read by everyone interested in the social sciences.' Richard Swedberg, University of Stockholm'Phil Mirowski reminds me of an investigative reporter with a world-class story. He has gone straight to the heart of a really interesting problem - the emergence of economics' modern era in the crucible of World War II - and come back with a detailed account of events at The Cowles Commission and the RAND Corporation. It is news, the best that can be said quickly. It is opinion: cyborg economics (meaning purely cognitive economics) is not the sort of science Mirowski wants to see. And it is sensationally interesting.' David Warsh, The Boston Globe'Machine Dreams is an astonishing performance of synthetic scholarship. Mirowski traces the present day predicaments of economic theory to its intellectual reformulation and institutional restructuring by military funding and in the crucibles of World War II and the Cold War. His demonstration that the mathematical economics of the postwar era is a complex response to the challenges of 'cyborg' science, the attempt to unify the study of human beings and intelligent machines through John von Neumann's general theory of automata, is bound to be controversial. His critics, however, will have to content with a breathtakingly wide range of published and unpublished evidence in fields ranging from psychology to operations research he presents. This noir history of economic thought will change its readers' understanding of twentieth-century economics.' Duncan Foley, New School University'… this is an important book that all economists who are genuinely interested in the future of their discipline should read.' The Times Higher Education Supplement'… a remarkable achievement. It is hard to imagine a historian who was not an economist (as Mirowski is) being able to encompass the economics of the second half of the 20th century in its diversity and technicality.' London Review of BooksTable of ContentsAcknowledgements; 1. Cyborg agonistes; 2. Some cyborg genealogies; or, how the demon got its bots; 3. John von Neumann and the cyborg incursion into economics; 4. The military, the scientists and the revised rules of the game; 5. Do cyborgs dream of efficient markets?; 6. The empire strikes back; 7. Core wars; 8. Machines who think versus machines that sell; Envoi; References; Index.
£54.14
Cambridge University Press Thomas Kuhn
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£76.94
Cambridge University Press Structural Proof Theory
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Thomas Kuhn
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£31.34
Cambridge University Press Reflection Without Rules
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£37.99
Cambridge University Press The Methodology of Empirical Macroeconomics
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£89.87
Cambridge University Press Simplicity Inference and Modelling Keeping It Sophisticatedly Simple
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£86.00
Cambridge University Press The Self in Neuroscience and Psychiatry
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£153.90
Cambridge University Press The Logic of Concept Expansion
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Descartes System of Natural Philosophy
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£75.04
Cambridge University Press The Cognitive Basis of Science
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£80.75
Cambridge University Press Discovering Cell Mechanisms
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£71.25
Cambridge University Press Information and Meaning in Evolutionary Processes
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£81.00
Cambridge University Press Biological Complexity and Integrative Pluralism
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£65.55
Cambridge University Press Free Logic
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£71.25
Cambridge University Press Symmetries in Physics
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£127.00
Cambridge University Press Descartes A Biography
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£43.70
Cambridge University Press Selfish Sounds and Linguistic Evolution
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£90.00
Cambridge University Press Lifes Solution Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe
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£98.52
Cambridge University Press Darwinism and its Discontents
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£23.00
Cambridge University Press Numbers Language and the Human Mind
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£104.50
Cambridge University Press Quantum Theory as an Emergent Phenomenon
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£118.75
Cambridge University Press Creativity in Science
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£41.80
Cambridge University Press Kant
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£64.59
Cambridge University Press Paulis Exclusion Principle
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£118.75
Cambridge University Press The Cambridge Companion to Carnap
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£79.93
Cambridge University Press The Selfish Meme
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£65.86
Cambridge University Press Biodiversity and Environmental Philosophy
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Arguments about Arguments
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£114.00
Cambridge University Press The Methodology of Experimental Economics
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£51.30
Cambridge University Press The Cognitive Structure of Scientific Revolutions
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Reexamining the QuantumClassical Relation Beyond Reductionism and Pluralism
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£117.19
Cambridge University Press Science and Ethics
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£71.25
Cambridge University Press Understanding SpaceTime
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Reasoning in Biological Discoveries Essays on Mechanisms Interfield Relations and Anomaly Resolution Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology
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£55.10
Cambridge University Press Defending Einstein
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Newton as Philosopher
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£81.00
Cambridge University Press Human Evolution and Christian Ethics 28 New Studies in Christian Ethics Series Number 28
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£58.90
Cambridge University Press The Emergence of Probability
Book SynopsisHistorical records show that there was no real concept of probability in Europe before the mid-seventeenth century, although the use of dice and other randomizing objects was commonplace. First published in 1975, this edition includes an introduction that contextualizes his book in light of developing philosophical trends.Trade Review"A fascinating in-depth study of the philosophical aspects of the concept of probability during its founding days." Andreas Karlsson, Uppsala University"[Hacking's] knowledge of the pertinent literature is considerable and the vigorous style of writing makes for enjoyable reading. Hacking states that his book was not written as history: be that as it may, but anyone who is interested in the history of probability and statistics, either as a philosopher or as a statistician, will find much here to think about." A.I. Dale, Mathematical ReviewsTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. An absent family of ideas; 2. Duality; 3. Opinion; 4. Evidence; 5. Signs; 6. The first calculations; 7. The Roannez circle; 8. The great decision; 9. The art of thinking; 10. Probability and the law; 11. Expectation; 12. Political arithmetic; 13. Annuities; 14. Equipossibility; 15. Inductive logic; 16. The art of conjecturing; 17. The first limit theorem; 18. Design; 19. Induction.
£76.94
Cambridge University Press A History of Natural Philosophy
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£57.95
Cambridge University Press Group Rationality in Scientific Research
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£51.30
Cambridge University Press The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life
Book SynopsisExplores the nature, origin, and extent of life in the universe from both scientific and philosophical perspectives, focusing particularly on the challenge of formulating a universal theory of life in relation to the search for extraterrestrial life. It is a valuable resource for those studying astrobiology and the origins of life.Trade Review'What is life? What universal principles apply to any biosphere? Our efforts to answer these deep questions are stymied because of our biased, Earth-bound perspective with only one kind of (known) life. In a book rich with original ideas and lucid insights, science philosopher Carol E. Cleland considers life from the perspective of what we don't know - the limitations, hidden biases, sloppy definitions, and false assumptions that may lead us astray. From 'shadow biospheres' on Earth, to artificial life in the lab, to alien lifeforms in distant galaxies, Cleland expands our minds and leads us to rethink what we thought we knew.' Robert Hazen, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington'Searching for life elsewhere in our solar system or beyond is at the forefront of science today, due to recent discoveries about terrestrial life, planetary environments, and planets around other stars. We can't extrapolate from our single example of life on Earth, which all share common biochemistry and are descended from a common ancestor, as to what the characteristics of life elsewhere in the universe might be. Given these uncertainties, how can we identify something as alive? What does it mean to be living? What is life? Carol E. Cleland takes a philosophy of science approach to what constitutes life, integrating it with biology in a planetary context. She has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nature of life and of how to search for it, both on Earth and elsewhere.' Bruce Jakosky, University Of Colorado'An essential read for anyone interested in the nature of life and its origins. Cleland's philosophical outlook means that she approaches the subject from a fresh perspective, framing important questions rarely discussed by scientists: what does it mean to try to define life, water, or anything else? How likely is it that life will be found on other planets or satellites, such as Titan, with conditions very different from those on Earth? Can we be sure that life as we know it is the only sort of life possible? Moreover, can we be sure that life very different from the life we know doesn't already exist unrecognized on Earth itself? This book discusses these points in a provocative way that forces readers to examine some of their cherished beliefs that they thought were self-evident.' Athel Cornish-Bowden, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France'This book focuses on the search for a universal theory of life and portrays viewpoints of both the philosopher and the scientist. This makes the book unique, providing at times astonishing insights.' Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Basic and Applied Ecology'Cleland … encourages readers to think more broadly about the definition of life, avoiding the 'neo-Aristotelian' narrowness of current investigations. This work is indeed scholarly, with over 20 pages of references, and interdisciplinary … three different approaches are philosophically presented to enable readers to conceptualize searching for 'life as we don't know it'.' T. Barker, ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The enduring legacy of Aristotle: the battle over life as self-organization or (genetic-based) reproduction; 2. Why life cannot be defined; 3. What is a scientific theory; 4. How scientific theories develop; 5. Challenges for a universal theory of life; 6. Rethinking the traditional paradigm for life: lessons from the world of microbes; 7. Artificial life: could ALife solve the N=1 problem?; 8. Searching for extraterrestrial life without a definition or universal theory of life; 9. A shadow biosphere: alien microbes on Earth?; Conclusion; References; Index.
£63.64
Cambridge University Press A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press What Science Offers the Humanities
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£79.93
Cambridge University Press Ethics and Science An Introduction Cambridge Applied Ethics
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£80.75
Cambridge University Press Physics and Philosophy Volume 4 Philosophical Papers
Book SynopsisThis collection of the writings of Paul Feyerabend is focused on his philosophy of quantum physics, the hotbed of the key issues of his most debated ideas. Written between 1948 and 1970, these writings come from his first and most productive period. These early works are important for two main reasons. First, they document Feyerabend's deep concern with the philosophical implications of quantum physics and its interpretations. These ideas were paid less attention in the following two decades. Second, the writings provide the crucial background for Feyerabend's critiques of Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn. Although rarely considered by scholars, Feyerabend's early work culminated in the first version of Against Method. These writings guided him on all the key issues of his most well-known and debated theses, such as the incommensurability thesis, the principles of proliferation and tenacity, and his particular version of relativism, and more specifically on quantum mechanics.Table of ContentsPart I. Papers and Book Chapters, 1948–70: 1. The concept of intelligibility in modern physics (1948); 2. Physics and ontology (1954); 3. Determinism and quantum mechanics (1954); 4. A remark about von Neumann's proof (1956); 5. Complementarity (1958); 6. Niels Bohr's interpretation of the quantum theory (1961); 7. Problems of microphysics (1962); 8. About conservative traits in the sciences and especially in quantum theory, and their elimination (1963); 9. Problems of microphysics (1964); 10. Peculiarity and change in physical knowledge (1965); 11. Dialectical materialism and the quantum theory (1966); 12. Remarks about the application of non-classical logics in quantum theory (1966); 13. On the possibility of a perpetuum mobile of the second kind (1966); 14. In defense of classical physics (1970); Part II. Reviews and Comments, 1957–67: 15. Review of Alfred Landé, Foundations of Quantum-Mechanics: A Study in Continuity and Symmetry (1957); 16. Discussions with Léon Rosenfeld and David Bohm (1957); 17. Review of John von Neumann, Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (1958); 18. Review of Hans Reichenbach, The Direction of Time (1959); 19. Professor Landé on the reduction of the wave packet (1960); 20. Comments on Grünbaum's 'Law and Convention in Physical Theory' (1960); 21. Comment on Hill's 'Quantum Physics and Relativity Theory' (1960); 22. Review of Norwood R. Hanson, The Concept of the Positron: A Philosophical Analysis (1964); 23. Review of Hans Reichenbach, Philosophic Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (1967); Part III. Encyclopaedia Entries, 1958–67: 24. Natural philosophy (1958); 25. Philosophical problems of quantum theory (1964); 26. Ludwig Boltzmann, 1844–1906 (1967); 27. Werner Heisenberg (1967); 28. Max Planck, 1858–1947 (1967); 29. Erwin Schrödinger, 1887–1961 (1967).
£99.75
Cambridge University Press Visions of Discovery New Light on Physics Cosmology and Consciousness
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£75.04
Cambridge University Press Einsteins Unification
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£118.75