The Pragmatics of Scientific Explanation

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (44 download)

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Book Synopsis The Pragmatics of Scientific Explanation by : Matti Sintonen

Download or read book The Pragmatics of Scientific Explanation written by Matti Sintonen and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Scientific Explanation

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400764464
Total Pages : 100 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Scientific Explanation by : Erik Weber

Download or read book Scientific Explanation written by Erik Weber and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When scientist investigate why things happen, they aim at giving an explanation. But what does a scientific explanation look like? In the first chapter (Theories of Scientific Explanation) of this book, the milestones in the debate on how to characterize scientific explanations are exposed. The second chapter (How to Study Scientific Explanation?) scrutinizes the working-method of three important philosophers of explanation, Carl Hempel, Philip Kitcher and Wesley Salmon and shows what went wrong. Next, it is the responsibility of current philosophers of explanation to go on where Hempel, Kitcher and Salmon failed. However, we should go on in a clever way. We call this clever way the pragmatic approach to scientific explanation and clarify briefly what this approach consists in. The third chapter (A Toolbox for Describing and Evaluating Explanatory Practices) elaborates the pragmatic approach by presenting a toolbox for analysing scientific explanation. In the last chapter (Examples of Descriptions and Evaluations of Explanatory Practices) the approach is illustrated with real-life examples of scientists aiming at explaining. This book can be used as a textbook for intermediate philosophy of science courses and is also valuable as “suggested reading” for introductory courses in philosophy of science. The way the book is set up makes it an excellent study and research guide for advanced (MA and PhD) students that work on the topic of scientific explanation. Finally, it is a handy source and reference book for senior researchers in the field of scientific explanations and – more generally – for all philosophers of science. ​

Scientific Understanding

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Publisher : University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN 13 : 0822971240
Total Pages : 365 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (229 download)

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Book Synopsis Scientific Understanding by : Henk W. de Regt

Download or read book Scientific Understanding written by Henk W. de Regt and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2014-08-09 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To most scientists, and to those interested in the sciences, understanding is the ultimate aim of scientific endeavor. In spite of this, understanding, and how it is achieved, has received little attention in recent philosophy of science. Scientific Understanding seeks to reverse this trend by providing original and in-depth accounts of the concept of understanding and its essential role in the scientific process. To this end, the chapters in this volume explore and develop three key topics: understanding and explanation, understanding and models, and understanding in scientific practice. Earlier philosophers, such as Carl Hempel, dismissed understanding as subjective and pragmatic. They believed that the essence of science was to be found in scientific theories and explanations. In Scientific Understanding, the contributors maintain that we must also consider the relation between explanations and the scientists who construct and use them. They focus on understanding as the cognitive state that is a goal of explanation and on the understanding of theories and models as a means to this end. The chapters in this book highlight the multifaceted nature of the process of scientific research. The contributors examine current uses of theory, models, simulations, and experiments to evaluate the degree to which these elements contribute to understanding. Their analyses pay due attention to the roles of intelligibility, tacit knowledge, and feelings of understanding. Furthermore, they investigate how understanding is obtained within diverse scientific disciplines and examine how the acquisition of understanding depends on specific contexts, the objects of study, and the stated aims of research.

The Nature of Scientific Thinking

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Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1137389834
Total Pages : 347 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (373 download)

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Book Synopsis The Nature of Scientific Thinking by : J. Faye

Download or read book The Nature of Scientific Thinking written by J. Faye and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-15 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific thinking must be understood as an activity. The acts of interpretation, representation, and explanation are the cognitive processes by which scientific thinking leads to understanding. The book explores the nature of these processes and describes how scientific thinking can only be grasped from a pragmatic perspective.

Theories of Explanation

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Theories of Explanation by : Joseph C. Pitt

Download or read book Theories of Explanation written by Joseph C. Pitt and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1988 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This valuable collection presents some of the classic essays as well as recent work in the theory of explanation, a principal topic in the philosophy of science.

Four Decades of Scientific Explanation

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Publisher : University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN 13 : 0822973022
Total Pages : 253 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (229 download)

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Book Synopsis Four Decades of Scientific Explanation by : Wesley C. Salmon

Download or read book Four Decades of Scientific Explanation written by Wesley C. Salmon and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2006-06-15 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Aristotle stated, scientific explanation is based on deductive argument-yet, Wesley C. Salmon points out, not all deductive arguments are qualified explanations. The validity of the explanation must itself be examined. Four Decades of Scientific Explanation provides a comprehensive account of the developments in scientific explanation that transpired in the last four decades of the twentieth century. It continues to stand as the most comprehensive treatment of the writings on the subject during these years.Building on the historic 1948 essay by Carl G. Hempel and Paul Oppenheim, "Studies in the Logic of Explanation," which introduced the deductive-nomological (D-N) model on which most work on scientific explanation was based for the following four decades, Salmon goes beyond this model's inherent basis of describing empirical knowledge to tells us "not only what, but also why." Salmon examines the predominant models in chronological order and describes their development, refinement, and criticism or rejection.Four Decades of Scientific Explanation underscores the need for a consensus of approach and ongoing evaluations of methodology in scientific explanation, with the goal of providing a better understanding of natural phenomena.

Towards a Pragmatic Theory of Medical Explanations of Disease

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 494 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (129 download)

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Book Synopsis Towards a Pragmatic Theory of Medical Explanations of Disease by : Barry DeCoster

Download or read book Towards a Pragmatic Theory of Medical Explanations of Disease written by Barry DeCoster and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Science, Explanation, and Rationality

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195352912
Total Pages : 373 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis Science, Explanation, and Rationality by : James H. Fetzer

Download or read book Science, Explanation, and Rationality written by James H. Fetzer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-12-07 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carl G. Hempel exerted greater influence upon philosophers of science than any other figure during the 20th century. In this far-reaching collection, distinguished philosophers contribute valuable studies that illuminate and clarify the central problems to which Hempel was devoted. The essays enhance our understanding of the development of logical empiricism as the major intellectual influence for scientifically-oriented philosophers and philosophically-minded scientists of the 20th century.

Scientific Explanation

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Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
ISBN 13 : 0816657653
Total Pages : 546 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (166 download)

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Book Synopsis Scientific Explanation by : Philip Kitcher

Download or read book Scientific Explanation written by Philip Kitcher and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 1962-05-25 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific Explanation was first published in 1962. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. Is a new consensus emerging in the philosophy of science? The nine distinguished contributors to this volume apply that question to the realm of scientific explanation and, although their conclusions vary, they agree in one respect: there definitely was an old consensus. Co-editor Wesley Salmon's opening essay, "Four Decades of Scientific Explanation," grounds the entire discussion. His point of departure is the founding document of the old consensus: a 1948 paper by Carl G. Hempel and Paul Oppenheim, "Studies in the Logic of Explanation," that set forth, with remarkable clarity, a mode of argument that came to be known as the deductive-nomological model. This approach, holding that explanation dies not move beyond the sphere of empirical knowledge, remained dominant during the hegemony of logical empiricism from 1950 to 1975. Salmon traces in detail the rise and breakup of the old consensus, and examines the degree to which there is, if not a new consensus, at least a kind of reconciliation on this issue among contemporary philosophers of science and clear agreement that science can indeed tell us why. The other contributors, in the order of their presentations, are: Peter Railton, Matti Sintonen, Paul W. Humphreys, David Papineau, Nancy Cartwright, James Woodward, Merrilee H. Salmon, and Philip Kitcher.

Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691221480
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

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Book Synopsis Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World by : Wesley C. Salmon

Download or read book Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World written by Wesley C. Salmon and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The philosophical theory of scientific explanation proposed here involves a radically new treatment of causality that accords with the pervasively statistical character of contemporary science. Wesley C. Salmon describes three fundamental conceptions of scientific explanation--the epistemic, modal, and ontic. He argues that the prevailing view (a version of the epistemic conception) is untenable and that the modal conception is scientifically out-dated. Significantly revising aspects of his earlier work, he defends a causal/mechanical theory that is a version of the ontic conception. Professor Salmon's theory furnishes a robust argument for scientific realism akin to the argument that convinced twentieth-century physical scientists of the existence of atoms and molecules. To do justice to such notions as irreducibly statistical laws and statistical explanation, he offers a novel account of physical randomness. The transition from the "reviewed view" of scientific explanation (that explanations are arguments) to the causal/mechanical model requires fundamental rethinking of basic explanatory concepts.

Rethinking Explanation

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.X/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Rethinking Explanation by : Johannes Persson

Download or read book Rethinking Explanation written by Johannes Persson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-02-16 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nature of scientific explanation has been an important topic in philosophy of science for many years. This book highlights some of the conceptual problems that still need to be solved and points out a number of fresh philosophical ideas to explore. Anyone interested in causal and probabilistic explanation, explanation-seeking questions and contrastive explanations, inference to the best explanation, or explanations within the special sciences should find something of interest in this book.

Understanding Scientific Understanding

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190652934
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (96 download)

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Book Synopsis Understanding Scientific Understanding by : Henk W. de Regt

Download or read book Understanding Scientific Understanding written by Henk W. de Regt and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-07-24 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is widely acknowledged that a central aim of science is to achieve understanding of the world around us, and that possessing such understanding is highly important in our present-day society. But what does it mean to achieve this understanding? What precisely is scientific understanding? These are philosophical questions that have not yet received satisfactory answers. While there has been an ongoing debate about the nature of scientific explanation since Carl Hempel advanced his covering-law model in 1948, the related notion of understanding has been largely neglected, because most philosophers regarded understanding as merely a subjective by-product of objective explanations. By contrast, this book puts scientific understanding center stage. It is primarily a philosophical study, but also contains detailed historical case studies of scientific practice. In contrast to most existing studies in this area, it takes into account scientists' views and analyzes their role in scientific debate and development. The aim of Understanding Scientific Understanding is to develop and defend a philosophical theory of scientific understanding that can describe and explain the historical variation of criteria for understanding actually employed by scientists. The theory does justice to the insights of such famous physicists as Werner Heisenberg and Richard Feynman, while bringing much-needed conceptual rigor to their intuitions. The scope of the proposed account of understanding is the natural sciences: while the detailed case studies derive from physics, examples from other sciences are presented to illustrate its wider validity.

The Pragmatic Turn

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262545772
Total Pages : 433 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis The Pragmatic Turn by : Andreas K. Engel

Download or read book The Pragmatic Turn written by Andreas K. Engel and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts from a range of disciplines assess the foundations and implications of a novel action-oriented view of cognition. Cognitive science is experiencing a pragmatic turn away from the traditional representation-centered framework toward a view that focuses on understanding cognition as “enactive.” This enactive view holds that cognition does not produce models of the world but rather subserves action as it is grounded in sensorimotor skills. In this volume, experts from cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, robotics, and philosophy of mind assess the foundations and implications of a novel action-oriented view of cognition. Their contributions and supporting experimental evidence show that an enactive approach to cognitive science enables strong conceptual advances, and the chapters explore key concepts for this new model of cognition. The contributors discuss the implications of an enactive approach for cognitive development; action-oriented models of cognitive processing; action-oriented understandings of consciousness and experience; and the accompanying paradigm shifts in the fields of philosophy, brain science, robotics, and psychology. Contributors Moshe Bar, Lawrence W. Barsalov, Olaf Blanke, Jeannette Bohg, Martin V. Butz, Peter F. Dominey, Andreas K. Engel, Judith M. Ford, Karl J. Friston, Chris D. Frith, Shaun Gallagher, Antonia Hamilton, Tobias Heed, Cecilia Heyes, Elisabeth Hill, Matej Hoffmann, Jakob Hohwy, Bernhard Hommel, Atsushi Iriki, Pierre Jacob, Henrik Jörntell, Jürgen Jost, James Kilner, Günther Knoblich, Peter König, Danica Kragic, Miriam Kyselo, Alexander Maye, Marek McGann, Richard Menary, Thomas Metzinger, Ezequiel Morsella, Saskia Nagel, Kevin J. O'Regan, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Giovanni Pezzulo, Tony J. Prescott, Wolfgang Prinz, Friedemann Pulvermüller, Robert Rupert, Marti Sanchez-Fibla, Andrew Schwartz, Anil K. Seth, Vicky Southgate, Antonella Tramacere, John K. Tsotsos, Paul F. M. J. Verschure, Gabriella Vigliocco, Gottfried Vosgerau

Peirce's Pragmatic Theory of Inquiry

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780826488992
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (889 download)

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Book Synopsis Peirce's Pragmatic Theory of Inquiry by : Elizabeth Cooke

Download or read book Peirce's Pragmatic Theory of Inquiry written by Elizabeth Cooke and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A ground-breaking study of one of America's greatest philosophers

Understanding and Explanation

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262510417
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Understanding and Explanation by : Karl-Otto Apel

Download or read book Understanding and Explanation written by Karl-Otto Apel and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1984 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding and Explanation clarifies the "explanation versus understanding" debate that has become central to the philosophy of the social sciences.

Mechanistic Explanations at Work

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 122 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (317 download)

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Book Synopsis Mechanistic Explanations at Work by : Mark Dietrich Tschaepe

Download or read book Mechanistic Explanations at Work written by Mark Dietrich Tschaepe and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this work I argue that mechanistic explanations are to be understood as tools for solving exigencies when we account for pragmatic considerations in formulating such explanations. My focus is on pragmatic considerations in regard to neural explanations for behavior, specifically mechanistic explanations for pair bonding, which are to be utilized in explaining monogamous behavior. In order to make this argument, I introduce the reader to mechanisms and mechanistic explanations, pragmatics and pragmatic considerations, and current mechanism sketches for monogamous behavior. I then make the argument that mechanistic explanations are tools for solving exigencies. I also pose possible objections to the argument for a technological understanding of mechanistic explanations. These possible objections included issues stemming from the use of models, neural explanations for behavioral exigencies, and the instrumentalism implicit in a technological approach to mechanistic explanations. Finally, I provide a brief conclusion to my argument, followed by the suggestion that the account of pragmatic considerations regarding mechanistic explanations put forth in this work pertains to other domains of discourse and behavior.

Explorations in Pragmatics

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Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
ISBN 13 : 3110198843
Total Pages : 355 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis Explorations in Pragmatics by : Istvan Kecskes

Download or read book Explorations in Pragmatics written by Istvan Kecskes and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2008-09-25 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The papers in this volume reflect current trends in international research in pragmatics over recent years. The unique feature of the book is that the authors coming from ten different countries represent all aspects of pragmatics and address issues that have emerged as the result of recent research in pragmatics proper and neighboring fields such as cognitive psychology, philosophy, and communication. Recent theoretical work on the semantics/pragmatics interface, empirical work within cognitive and developmental psychology, intercultural communication and bilingual pragmatics have directed attention to issues that warrant reexamination and revision of some of the central tenets and claims of the field of pragmatics. In addition, cultural changes originating from globalization have affected the relation of language to the wider world. In particular, the spread of English as a global language has led to the emergence of issues of usage, power, and control that must be dealt with in a comprehensive pragmatics of language. Pragmatic theories have traditionally emphasized the importance of intention, rationality, cooperation, common ground, mutual knowledge, relevance, and commitment in the formation and execution of communicative acts. The new approaches to pragmatic research reflected in this volume, while not questioning the central role of these factors, extend the purview of the discipline to allow for a more comprehensive picture of their functioning and interrelationship within the dynamics of communication. The papers address these issues from a variety of directions. In Part I, Searle and Horn examine language use and pragmatics from a philosophical perspective. In Part II, the cognitive aspect of pragmatics is represented in the papers of Moeschler, Ruiz de Mendoza & Baicchi, and Giora. They focus on well-known domains such as illocutionary constructions, the pragmatics of negation, and the relevance-theoretic concept of explicature. However, each paper sheds new light on the familiar concepts. The papers in Part III by Mey, Kecskes and Grundy discuss the intercultural aspects of pragmatics while Terkourafi explores the explanatory potential of an interpretation of Grice's Cooperative Principle. Margerie's and Geeraert & Kristiansen's articles focus on the application of usage-based methodology in different ways within pragmatics.