Realism And Anti Realism In The Philosophy Of Science

Download Realism And Anti Realism In The Philosophy Of Science full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Realism And Anti Realism In The Philosophy Of Science ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Philosophy of Science: Very Short Introduction

Author : Samir Okasha
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191062782
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Philosophy of Science: Very Short Introduction by : Samir Okasha

Download or read book Philosophy of Science: Very Short Introduction written by Samir Okasha and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-07-21 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How much faith should we place in what scientists tell us? Is it possible for scientific knowledge to be fully 'objective'? What, really, can be defined as science? In the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, Samir Okasha explores the main themes and theories of contemporary philosophy of science, and investigates fascinating, challenging questions such as these. Starting at the very beginning, with a concise overview of the history of science, Okasha examines the nature of fundamental practices such as reasoning, causation, and explanation. Looking at scientific revolutions and the issue of scientific change, he asks whether there is a discernible pattern to the way scientific ideas change over time, and discusses realist versus anti-realist attitudes towards science. He finishes by considering science today, and the social and ethical philosophical questions surrounding modern science. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Realism and Anti-Realism in the Philosophy of Science

Author : Robert S. Cohen
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401586381
Total Pages : 497 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (15 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Realism and Anti-Realism in the Philosophy of Science by : Robert S. Cohen

Download or read book Realism and Anti-Realism in the Philosophy of Science written by Robert S. Cohen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beijing International Conference, 1992

The Instrument of Science

Author : Darrell P. Rowbottom
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429666292
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (296 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Instrument of Science by : Darrell P. Rowbottom

Download or read book The Instrument of Science written by Darrell P. Rowbottom and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-25 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roughly, instrumentalism is the view that science is primarily, and should primarily be, an instrument for furthering our practical ends. It has fallen out of favour because historically influential variants of the view, such as logical positivism, suffered from serious defects. In this book, however, Darrell P. Rowbottom develops a new form of instrumentalism, which is more sophisticated and resilient than its predecessors. This position—‘cognitive instrumentalism’—involves three core theses. First, science makes theoretical progress primarily when it furnishes us with more predictive power or understanding concerning observable things. Second, scientific discourse concerning unobservable things should only be taken literally in so far as it involves observable properties or analogies with observable things. Third, scientific claims about unobservable things are probably neither approximately true nor liable to change in such a way as to increase in truthlikeness. There are examples from science throughout the book, and Rowbottom demonstrates at length how cognitive instrumentalism fits with the development of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century chemistry and physics, and especially atomic theory. Drawing upon this history, Rowbottom also argues that there is a kind of understanding, empirical understanding, which we can achieve without having true, or even approximately true, representations of unobservable things. In closing the book, he sets forth his view on how the distinction between the observable and unobservable may be drawn, and compares cognitive instrumentalism with key contemporary alternatives such as structural realism, constructive empiricism, and semirealism. Overall, this book offers a strong defence of instrumentalism that will be of interest to scholars and students working on the debate about realism in philosophy of science.

Resisting Scientific Realism

Author : K. Brad Wray
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108415210
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (84 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Resisting Scientific Realism by : K. Brad Wray

Download or read book Resisting Scientific Realism written by K. Brad Wray and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a spirited defence of anti-realism in philosophy of science. Shows the historical evidence and logical challenges facing scientific realism.

Realism and Anti-Realism

Author : Stuart Brock
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317494261
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (174 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Realism and Anti-Realism by : Stuart Brock

Download or read book Realism and Anti-Realism written by Stuart Brock and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are a bewildering variety of ways the terms "realism" and "anti-realism" have been used in philosophy and furthermore the different uses of these terms are only loosely connected with one another. Rather than give a piecemeal map of this very diverse landscape, the authors focus on what they see as the core concept: realism about a particular domain is the view that there are facts or entities distinctive of that domain, and their existence and nature is in some important sense objective and mind-independent. The authors carefully set out and explain the different realist and anti-realist positions and arguments that occur in five key domains: science, ethics, mathematics, modality and fictional objects. For each area the authors examine the various styles of argument in support of and against realism and anti-realism, show how these different positions and arguments arise in very different domains, evaluate their success within these fields, and draw general conclusions about these assorted strategies. Error theory, fictionalism, non-cognitivism, relativism and response-dependence are taken as the most important positions in opposition to the realist and these are explored in depth. Suitable for advanced level undergraduates, the book offers readers a clear introduction to a subject central to much contemporary work in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of language.

A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism

Author : Anjan Chakravartty
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139468391
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism by : Anjan Chakravartty

Download or read book A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism written by Anjan Chakravartty and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific realism is the view that our best scientific theories give approximately true descriptions of both observable and unobservable aspects of a mind-independent world. Debates between realists and their critics are at the very heart of the philosophy of science. Anjan Chakravartty traces the contemporary evolution of realism by examining the most promising strategies adopted by its proponents in response to the forceful challenges of antirealist sceptics, resulting in a positive proposal for scientific realism today. He examines the core principles of the realist position, and sheds light on topics including the varieties of metaphysical commitment required, and the nature of the conflict between realism and its empiricist rivals. By illuminating the connections between realist interpretations of scientific knowledge and the metaphysical foundations supporting them, his book offers a compelling vision of how realism can provide an internally consistent and coherent account of scientific knowledge.

Realism and Antirealism in Kant's Moral Philosophy

Author : Robinson dos Santos
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110574519
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (15 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Realism and Antirealism in Kant's Moral Philosophy by : Robinson dos Santos

Download or read book Realism and Antirealism in Kant's Moral Philosophy written by Robinson dos Santos and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate between moral realism and antirealism plays an important role in contemporary metaethics as well as in the interpretation of Kant’s moral philosophy. This volume aims to clarify whether, and in what sense, Kant is a moral realist, an antirealist, or something in-between. Based on an explication of the key metaethical terms, internationally recognized Kant scholars discuss the question of how Kant’s moral philosophy should be understood in this regard. All camps in the metaethical field have their inhabitants: Some contributors read Kant’s philosophy in terms of a more or less robust moral realism, objectivism, or idealism, and some of them take it to be a version of constructivism, constitutionism, or brute antirealism. In any case, all authors introduce and defend their terminology in a clear manner and argue thoughtfully and refreshingly for their positions. With contributions of Stefano Bacin, Jochen Bojanowski, Christoph Horn, Patrick Kain, Lara Ostaric, Fred Rauscher, Oliver Sensen, Elke Schmidt, Dieter Schönecker, and Melissa Zinkin.

Making Prehistory

Author : Derek Turner
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139465058
Total Pages : 195 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Making Prehistory by : Derek Turner

Download or read book Making Prehistory written by Derek Turner and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-07-05 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists often make surprising claims about things that no one can observe. In physics, chemistry, and molecular biology, scientists can at least experiment on those unobservable entities, but what about researchers in fields such as paleobiology and geology who study prehistory, where no such experimentation is possible? Do scientists discover facts about the distant past or do they, in some sense, make prehistory? In this book Derek Turner argues that this problem has surprising and important consequences for the scientific realism debate. His discussion covers some of the main positions in philosophy of science - realism, social constructivism, empiricism, and the natural ontological attitude - and shows how they relate to issues in paleobiology and geology. His original and thought-provoking book will be of wide interest to philosophers and scientists alike.

Critical Scientific Realism

Author : Ilkka Niiniluoto
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191519405
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Critical Scientific Realism by : Ilkka Niiniluoto

Download or read book Critical Scientific Realism written by Ilkka Niiniluoto and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 1999-12-09 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ilkka Niiniluoto comes to the rescue of scientific realism, showing that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. Philosophical realism holds that the aim of a particular discourse is to make true statements about its subject-matter. Niiniluoto surveys the different varieties of realism in ontology, semantics, epistemology, theory construction, and methodology. He then sets out his own original version, and defends it against competing theories in the philosophy of science. Niiniluoto's critical scientific realism is founded upon the notion of truth as correspondence between language and reality, and characterizes scientific progress in terms of increasing truthlikeness. This makes it possible not only to take seriously, but also to make precise, the troublesome idea that scientific theories typically are false but nevertheless close to the truth.

Relativism and Realism in Science

Author : R. Nola
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400928777
Total Pages : 301 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (9 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Relativism and Realism in Science by : R. Nola

Download or read book Relativism and Realism in Science written by R. Nola and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The institutionalization of History and Philosophy of Science as a distinct field of scholarly endeavour began comparatively earl- though not always under that name - in the Australasian region. An initial lecturing appointment was made at the University of Melbourne immediately after the Second World War, in 1946, and other appoint ments followed as the subject underwent an expansion during the 1950s and 1960s similar to that which took place in other parts of the world. Today there are major Departments at the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and the University of Wollongong, and smaller groups active in many other parts of Australia and in New Zealand. "Australasian Studies in History and Philosophy of Science" aims to provide a distinctive publication outlet for Australian and New Zealand scholars working in the general area of history, philosophy and social studies of science. Each volume comprises a group of essays on a connected theme, edited by an Australian or a New Zealander with special expertise in that particular area. Papers address general issues, however, rather than local ones; parochial topics are avoided. Further more, though in each volume a majority of the contributors is from Australia or New Zealand, contributions from elsewhere are by no means ruled out. Quite the reverse, in fact - they are actively encour aged wherever appropriate to the balance of the volume in question.

Philosophy of Language and the Challenge to Scientific Realism

Author : Christopher Norris
Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 9780415327855
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (278 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Philosophy of Language and the Challenge to Scientific Realism by : Christopher Norris

Download or read book Philosophy of Language and the Challenge to Scientific Realism written by Christopher Norris and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Christopher Norris develops the case for scientific realism by tackling various adversary arguments from a range of anti-realist positions. Through a close critical reading he shows how they fail to make adequate sense on any rational, consistent, and scientifically-informed survey of the evidence. Along the way he incorporates a number of detailed case-studies from the history and philosophy of science. Norris devotes much of his discussion to some of the most prominent and widely influential source-texts of anti-realism. Also included are the sophisticated versions of verificationism developed - albeit in very different ways - by thinkers such as Michael Dummett and Bas van Fraassen. Central to Norris's argument is a prolonged engagement with the once highly influential but nowadays neglected work of Norwood Russell Hanson. This book will be welcomed especially by readers who possess some knowledge of the background debate and who wish to deepen and extend their understanding of these issues beyond an introductory level.

Realism and Anti-Realism

Author : Stuart Brock
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 131749427X
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (174 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Realism and Anti-Realism by : Stuart Brock

Download or read book Realism and Anti-Realism written by Stuart Brock and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are a bewildering variety of ways the terms "realism" and "anti-realism" have been used in philosophy and furthermore the different uses of these terms are only loosely connected with one another. Rather than give a piecemeal map of this very diverse landscape, the authors focus on what they see as the core concept: realism about a particular domain is the view that there are facts or entities distinctive of that domain, and their existence and nature is in some important sense objective and mind-independent. The authors carefully set out and explain the different realist and anti-realist positions and arguments that occur in five key domains: science, ethics, mathematics, modality and fictional objects. For each area the authors examine the various styles of argument in support of and against realism and anti-realism, show how these different positions and arguments arise in very different domains, evaluate their success within these fields, and draw general conclusions about these assorted strategies. Error theory, fictionalism, non-cognitivism, relativism and response-dependence are taken as the most important positions in opposition to the realist and these are explored in depth. Suitable for advanced level undergraduates, the book offers readers a clear introduction to a subject central to much contemporary work in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of language.

Scientific Realism

Author : N. Rescher
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400939051
Total Pages : 190 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (9 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Scientific Realism by : N. Rescher

Download or read book Scientific Realism written by N. Rescher and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The increasingly lively controversy over scientific realism has become one of the principal themes of recent philosophy. 1 In watching this controversy unfold in the rather technical way currently in vogue, it has seemed to me that it would be useful to view these contemporary disputes against the background of such older epistemological issues as fallibilism, scepticism, relativism, and the traditional realism/idealism debate. This, then, is the object of the present book, which will recon sider the newer concerns about scientific realism in the context of these older philosophical themes. Historically, realism concerns itself with the real existence of things that do not "meet the eye" - with suprasensible entities that lie beyond the reach of human perception. In medieval times, discussions about realism focused upon universals. Recognizing that there are physical objects such as cats and triangular objects and red tomatoes, the medievels debated whether such "abstract objects" as cathood and triangularity and redness also exist by way of having a reality indepen dent of the concretely real things that exhibit them. Three fundamen tally different positions were defended: (1) Nominalism. Abstracta have no independent existence as such: they only "exist" in and through the objects that exhibit them. Only particulars (individual substances) exist. Abstract "objects" are existents in name only, mere thought fictions by whose means we address concrete particular things. (2) Realism. Abstracta have an independent existence as such.

Scientific Realism and the Rationality of Science

Author : Howard Sankey
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317058801
Total Pages : 174 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (17 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Scientific Realism and the Rationality of Science by : Howard Sankey

Download or read book Scientific Realism and the Rationality of Science written by Howard Sankey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Scientific Realism

Author : Jarrett Leplin
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520337441
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (23 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Scientific Realism by : Jarrett Leplin

Download or read book Scientific Realism written by Jarrett Leplin and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-04-28 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1984.

Exceeding Our Grasp

Author : P. Kyle Stanford
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195174089
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Exceeding Our Grasp by : P. Kyle Stanford

Download or read book Exceeding Our Grasp written by P. Kyle Stanford and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume argues that history reveals our routine failure to even conceive of well-confirmed alternatives to our scientific theories, and similar alternatives to our own theories likely remain unconceived. It shows why defences of scientific realism cannot evade the problem and proposes an alternative image of the scientific enterprise.

Realism and Antirealism

Author : William P. Alston
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501720562
Total Pages : 315 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Realism and Antirealism by : William P. Alston

Download or read book Realism and Antirealism written by William P. Alston and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-06 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the past century, a debate has raged over the thesis of realism and its alternatives. Realism—the seemingly commonsensical view that all or most of what we encounter in the world exists and is what it is independently of human thought—has been vigorously denied by such prominent intellectuals as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Richard Rorty, Thomas Kuhn, Hilary Putnam, and Nelson Goodman. The opponents of realism, among them historians and social scientists who support social constructionism, hold that all or most of reality depends on human conceptual schemes and beliefs. In this volume of original essays, a group of philosophers explores the ongoing controversy. The book opens with an introduction by William P. Alston, whose writing on the subject has been widely influential. Selected essays then compare and contrast aspects of the arguments put forward by the realists with those of the antirealists. Other chapters discuss the importance of the debate for philosophical topics such as epistemology and for domains ranging from religion, literature, and science to morality.