Practical Realist Philosophy of Science
Title | Practical Realist Philosophy of Science PDF eBook |
Author | Ave Mets |
Publisher | Lexington Books |
Pages | 271 |
Release | 2024-05-07 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 1666937231 |
The Estonian philosopher of science Rein Vihalemm (1938–2015) left two prominent and fruitful philosophical-methodological legacies that continue to captivate philosophers of science: a methodological distinction of scientific disciplines and the practical realist philosophy of science. Edited by Ave Mets, Endla Lõhkivi, Peeter Müürsepp, and Jaana Eigi-Watkin, Practical Realist Philosophy of Science: Reflecting on Rein Vihalemm's Ideas explores some of these fruits that have sprung from philosophy of science, and the applications of those approaches through three main ideas: (back)grounds of the practical approach, metaphysics of practices, and special sciences. The first part features authors who juxtapose Vihalemm’s approach with those of prominent philosophers on the practical and material basis of cognition, providing support and refinement to his framework. The second part delves into the metaphysical aspects of science and practices, and comprehending them. The third part centers around examples of Vihalemm’s approach to specific scientific disciplines within chemistry, biology and humanities. These diverse implications outlined in this book, supported by solid ground and compelling argumentation, offer an original contribution to this field.
Philosophy of Science
Title | Philosophy of Science PDF eBook |
Author | Samir Okasha |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 161 |
Release | 2016 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0198745583 |
What is science? -- Scientific inference -- Explanation in science -- Realism and anti-realism -- Scientific change and scientific revolutions -- Philosophical problems in physics, biology, and psychology -- Science and its critics.
Scientific Realism
Title | Scientific Realism PDF eBook |
Author | Stathis Psillos |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 372 |
Release | 2005-08-02 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1134619812 |
Scientific realism is the optimistic view that modern science is on the right track: that the world really is the way our best scientific theories describe it . In his book, Stathis Psillos gives us a detailed and comprehensive study which restores the intuitive plausibility of scientific realism. We see that throughout the twentieth century, scientific realism has been challenged by philosophical positions from all angles: from reductive empiricism, to instrumentalism and to modern sceptical empiricism. Scientific Realism explains that the history of science does not undermine the arguments for scientific realism, but instead makes it reasonable to accept scientific realism as the best philosophical account of science, its empirical success, its progress and its practice. Anyone wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the state of modern science and why scientific realism is plausible, should read this book.
A Realist Philosophy of Social Science
Title | A Realist Philosophy of Social Science PDF eBook |
Author | Peter T. Manicas |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 7 |
Release | 2006-06-15 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1139457063 |
This introduction to the philosophy of social science provides an original conception of the task and nature of social inquiry. Peter Manicas discusses the role of causality seen in the physical sciences and offers a reassessment of the problem of explanation from a realist perspective. He argues that the fundamental goal of theory in both the natural and social sciences is not, contrary to widespread opinion, prediction and control, or the explanation of events (including behaviour). Instead, theory aims to provide an understanding of the processes which, together, produce the contingent outcomes of experience. Offering a host of concrete illustrations and examples of critical ideas and issues, this accessible book will be of interest to students of the philosophy of social science, and social scientists from a range of disciplines.
A Realistic Theory of Science
Title | A Realistic Theory of Science PDF eBook |
Author | Clifford Alan Hooker |
Publisher | SUNY Press |
Pages | 494 |
Release | 1987-01-01 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 9780887063152 |
This book presents a clear and critical view of the orthodox logical empiricist tradition, pointing the way to significant developments for the understanding of science both as research and as culture. It summarizes the present confused and highly polarized status of the orthodox philosophy of science. It exhibits clearly the fundamental metaphysical and global presuppositions and confusions that have led to this status. It provides a positive point of view from which progress can be made toward understanding science as research done by real scientists rather than science as exemplifying some prior epistemological program created by philosophers. And it leads directly to an understanding of science as a dynamic force within our society with consequences for the environment and public policy.
Scientific Realism and the Rationality of Science
Title | Scientific Realism and the Rationality of Science PDF eBook |
Author | Professor Howard Sankey |
Publisher | Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |
Pages | 176 |
Release | 2012-10-01 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1409485811 |
Scientific realism is the position that the aim of science is to advance on truth and increase knowledge about observable and unobservable aspects of the mind-independent world which we inhabit. This book articulates and defends that position. In presenting a clear formulation and addressing the major arguments for scientific realism Sankey appeals to philosophers beyond the community of, typically Anglo-American, analytic philosophers of science to appreciate and understand the doctrine. The book emphasizes the epistemological aspects of scientific realism and contains an original solution to the problem of induction that rests on an appeal to the principle of uniformity of nature.
A Realist Theory of Science
Title | A Realist Theory of Science PDF eBook |
Author | Roy Bhaskar |
Publisher | Verso Books |
Pages | 367 |
Release | 2020-05-05 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1789603536 |
A Realist Theory of Science is one of the few books that have changed our understanding of the philosophy of science. In this analysis of the natural sciences, with a particular focus on the experimental process itself, Roy Bhaskar provides a definitive critique of the traditional, positivist conception of science and stakes out an alternative, realist position. Since it original publication in 1975, a movement known as 'Critical Realism', which is both intellectually diverse and international in scope, has developed on the basis of key concepts outlined in the text. The book has been hailed in many quarters as a 'Copernican Revolution' in the study of the nature of science, and the implications of its account have been far-reaching for many fields of the humanities and social sciences.