Download or read book The Theoretical Practices of Physics written by R. I. G. Hughes and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-05 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: R.I.G Hughes offers an original approach to the philosophical understanding of physics: instead of examining theories, he examines the theoretical practices which physicists use. He starts with a critical study of the accounts that physicists give of their practices, and asks: Given that these practices are successful, what is the nature of their success? Eight of the nine essays are illustrated by case studies of particular episodes in the history of physics. In three essays these case studies are strictly historical; the others deal with physics since 1900. Three essays deal with standard topics in the philosophical literature (laws, explanation, and realism), but are here considered from the perspective that an examination of theoretical practice affords. The five essays at the centre of the book all deal with different aspects of modelling in physics. Another examines the discourse of physics, in particular the languages in which physical narratives are told and experimental work is described. The final essay draws out the implications of the earlier essays for the thesis of scientific realism.
Download or read book Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Science written by Matthew H. Slater and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of new essays, written by leading philosophers of science, explores a broadly methodological question: what role should metaphysics play in our philosophizing about science? The essays address this question both through ground-level investigations of particular issues in the metaphysics of science and by more general methodological investigations.
Download or read book Topics in the Philosophy of Biology written by Marjorie Grene and published by Springer. This book was released on 1975-12-31 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The philosophy of biology should move to the center of the philosophy of science - a place it has not been accorded since the time of Mach. Physics was the paradigm of science, and its shadow falls across con temporary philosophy of biology as well, in a variety of contexts: reduction, organization and system, biochemical mechanism, and the models of law and explanation which derive from the Duhem-Popper Hempel tradition. This volume, we think, offers ample evidence of how good contempo rary work in the philosophical understanding of biology has become. Marjorie Grene and Everett Mendelsohn aptly combine a deep philo sophical appreciation of conceptual issues in biology with an historical understanding of the radical changes in the science of biology since the 19th century. In this book, they present essays which probe such historical and methodological questions as reducibility, levels of organization, function and teleology, and the range of issues emerging from evolution ary theory and the species problem. In conjunction with Professor Grene's collection of essays on the philosophy of biology, The Under standing of Nature (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. XXIII) and the occasional essays on these topics which we have published in other volumes (listed below), this volume contributes to bringing biology to the center of philosophical attention. Everett Mendelsohn, 'Explanation in Nineteenth Century Biology' (Boston Studies, Vol. II, 1965). David Hawkins, 'Taxonomy and Information', (Boston Studies, Vol. III, 1967).
Download or read book Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Biology written by Francisco J. Ayala and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-11-19 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of specially commissioned essays puts top scholarshead to head to debate the central issues in the lively and fastgrowing field of philosophy of biology Brings together original essays on ten of the most hotlydebated questions in philosophy of biology Lively head-to-head debate format sharply defines the issuesand paves the way for further discussion Includes coverage of the new and vital area of evolutionarydevelopmental biology, as well as the concept of a unified species,the role of genes in selection, the differences between micro- andmacro-evolution, and much more Each section features an introduction to the topic as well assuggestions for further reading Offers an accessible overview of this fast-growing and dynamicfield, whilst also capturing the imagination of professionalphilosophers and biologists
Download or read book Philosophies of the Sciences written by Fritz Allhoff and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-12-02 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays discussing a wide range of sciences and the central philosophical issues associated with them, presenting the sciences collectively to encourage a greater understanding of their associative theoretical foundations, as well as their relationships to each other. Offers a new and unique approach to studying and comparing the philosophies of a variety of scientific disciplines Explores a wide variety of individual sciences, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology and economics The essays are written by leading scholars in a highly accessible style for the student audience Complements more traditional studies of philosophy of science
Download or read book Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge written by Niels Bohr and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of articles, which were first published in 1958 and written on various occasions between 1932 and 1957, forms a sequel to Danish physician Niels Bohr’s earlier essays in Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature (1934). “The theme of the papers is the epistemological lesson which the modern development of atomic physics has given us and its relevance for analysis and synthesis in many fields of human knowledge. “The articles in the previous edition were written at a time when the establishment of the mathematical methods of quantum mechanics had created a firm foundation for the consistent treatment of atomic phenomena, and the conditions for an unambiguous account of experience within this framework were characterized by the notion of complementarity. In the papers collected here, this approach is further developed in logical formulation and given broader application.”
Download or read book Theoretical Biology and Complexity written by Robert Rosen and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theoretical Biology and Complexity: Three Essays on the Natural Philosophy of Complex Systems is made up of three short essays-each separately conceived and written, each with distinct thrusts and emphases, but nevertheless closely related in substance and spirit. All three spring from a common concern: to grasp and comprehend the material basis of living systems. The first essay is about the interaction between particles and the consequent observable manifestations. It casts the analysis of the measurement process into an elegant dualism relating modes of description, and explores the conseq ...
Download or read book Philosophy of Biology written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2007-02-05 with total page 639 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosophy of Biology is a rapidly expanding field. It is concerned with explanatory concepts in evolution, genetics, and ecology. This collection of 25 essays by leading researchers provides an overview of the state of the field. These essays are wholly new; none of them could have been written even ten years ago. They demonstrate how philosophical analysis has been able to contribute to sometimes contested areas of scientific theory making.-Written by internationally acknowledged leaders in the field- Entries make original contributions as well as summarizing state of the art discoveries in the field- Easy to read and understand
Download or read book Creating a Physical Biology written by Phillip R. Sloan and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-12-15 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its historical impact on the biological sciences, the paper entitled 'On the Nature of Gene Mutation and Gene Structure' has remained largely inaccessible because it was only published in a short-lived German periodical. This book makes the 'Three Man' Paper available in English for the first time.
Download or read book Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Ren Descartes written by Stephen Voss and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1993 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In English, with some essays translated from French. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Download or read book Philosophy of Biology written by Peter Godfrey-Smith and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An essential introduction to the philosophy of biology This is a concise, comprehensive, and accessible introduction to the philosophy of biology written by a leading authority on the subject. Geared to philosophers, biologists, and students of both, the book provides sophisticated and innovative coverage of the central topics and many of the latest developments in the field. Emphasizing connections between biological theories and other areas of philosophy, and carefully explaining both philosophical and biological terms, Peter Godfrey-Smith discusses the relation between philosophy and science; examines the role of laws, mechanistic explanation, and idealized models in biological theories; describes evolution by natural selection; and assesses attempts to extend Darwin's mechanism to explain changes in ideas, culture, and other phenomena. Further topics include functions and teleology, individuality and organisms, species, the tree of life, and human nature. The book closes with detailed, cutting-edge treatments of the evolution of cooperation, of information in biology, and of the role of communication in living systems at all scales. Authoritative and up-to-date, this is an essential guide for anyone interested in the important philosophical issues raised by the biological sciences.
Download or read book Space Time Matter and Form written by David Bostock and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2006-02-16 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Space, Time, Matter, and Form collects ten of David Bostock's essays on themes from Aristotle's Physics, four of them published here for the first time. The first five papers look at issues raised in the first two books of the Physics, centred on notions of matter and form, and the idea of substance as what persists through change. They also range over other of Aristotle's scientific works, such as his biology and psychology and the account of change in his De Generatione et Corruptione. The volume's remaining essays examine themes in later books of the Physics, including infinity, place, time, and continuity. Bostock argues that Aristotle's views on these topics are of real interest in their own right, independent of his notions of substance, form, and matter; they also raise some pressing problems of interpretation, which these essays seek to resolve.
Download or read book Everything Flows written by Daniel J. Nicholson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The majority of the papers herein originated at the workshop 'Process Philosophy of Biology' ... held in Exeter in November 2014."--Page vii.
Download or read book Philosophical Essays written by F. P. Clarke and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2017-11-15 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.
Download or read book Beyond the Land Ethic written by J. Baird Callicott and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading theorist addresses a wide spectrum of topics central to the field of environmental philosophy.
Download or read book Essays on Life Itself written by Robert Rosen and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compiling twenty articles on the nature of life and on the objective of the natural sciences, this remarkable book complements Robert Rosen's groundbreaking Life Itself--a work that influenced a wide range of philosophers, biologists, linguists, and social scientists. In Essays on Life Itself, Rosen takes to task the central objective of the natural sciences, calling into question the attempt to create objectivity in a subjective world and forcing us to reconsider where science can lead us in the years to come.
Download or read book Essays in Science and Philosophy written by Alfred North Whitehead and published by London ; New York : Rider. This book was released on 1948 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
