Science Philosophy: A Contemporary Advanced Tutorial (Philosopher's Stone Series · Contemporary Scientific Thought Series)

Author: Alex
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: All cultures that come into contact with science eventually adopt it, and in this regard, science may be a unique Western institution. The scope, nature, and methods of science have been continuously debated throughout its history. Natural science not only poses fundamental questions for philosophers but also shapes theories about the nature of reality and our understanding of the scope of knowledge about reality. This book clarifies some profound philosophical issues raised by science by examining enduringly influential questions about the nature, methods, and justification of science. Grasping the nature of explanation, laws, causality, theories, models, evidence, reductionism, probability, teleology, realism, and instrumentalism in science is essentially equivalent to confronting the same issues continually explored by Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and their successors. Philosophy of science is a central branch of philosophy, and this clear, reader-friendly textbook is particularly suitable as an introductory read on the philosophy of science and as a reference for students majoring in science. It possesses the following features of a textbook: each chapter includes an "Outline" and "Summary"; provides clear and diverse supporting cases from science; offers numerous discussion questions; and lists detailed reference readings at the end of each chapter, with a glossary at the back of the book.