Description

Book Synopsis
Do the sciences aim to uncover the structure of nature, or are they a practical means of controlling our environment? This work argues that while physics and chemistry can develop laws revealing the structure of natural phenomena, biology is fated to be a practical, instrumental discipline.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Biology as an Instrumental Science Chapter 2: Whatever Happened to Reductionism, and Why? Chapter 3: Reductionism and Explanation in Molecular Biology Chapter 4: Evolution, Drift, and Subjective Probability Chapter 5: Biological Instrumentalism and the Levels of Selection Chapter 6: Theories and Models, Replicators and Interactors Chapter 7: Instrumental Biology and Intentional Psychology Chapter 8: Biology and the Behavioral Sciences Bibliography Index

Instrumental Biology or The Disunity of Science

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    A Hardback by Alexander Rosenberg

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      View other formats and editions of Instrumental Biology or The Disunity of Science by Alexander Rosenberg

      Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
      Publication Date: 11/1/1994 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN13: 9780226727257, 978-0226727257
      ISBN10: 0226727254
      Also in:
      Biology, life sciences Philosophy of science

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Do the sciences aim to uncover the structure of nature, or are they a practical means of controlling our environment? This work argues that while physics and chemistry can develop laws revealing the structure of natural phenomena, biology is fated to be a practical, instrumental discipline.

      Table of Contents
      Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Biology as an Instrumental Science Chapter 2: Whatever Happened to Reductionism, and Why? Chapter 3: Reductionism and Explanation in Molecular Biology Chapter 4: Evolution, Drift, and Subjective Probability Chapter 5: Biological Instrumentalism and the Levels of Selection Chapter 6: Theories and Models, Replicators and Interactors Chapter 7: Instrumental Biology and Intentional Psychology Chapter 8: Biology and the Behavioral Sciences Bibliography Index

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