Synopses & Reviews
This new edition brings up to date this accessible study of the philosophy of science. Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, scientists and philosophers have raised questions about the proper evaluation of scientific interpretations. A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science is an exposition of differing viewpoints on issues such as the distinction between scientific inquiry and other types of interpretation, the relationship between theories and observation reports; the evaluation of competing theories; and the nature of progress in science. The author makes accessible the philosophy of science to readers who may not have extensive knowledge of formal logic or the history of the several sciences. The third edition incorporates an extended discussion of recent developments. Historicist critics of Logical Empiricism have established that evaluative standards and cognitive aims have changed within the history of science. This edition examines these changes, the recent controversies over scientific realism, casual theories of explanation, Bayesian theories of confirmation, and the search for a non-prescriptive philosophy of science. philosophers have raised questions about the proper evaluation of scientific interpretations. This is a lucid and accessible introduction to the philosophy of science, ideal for readers who may not have the extensive knowledge of formal logic or the history of the several sciences. This new edition includes an extended discussion of such recent developments and controversies as new approaches to evaluative standards and cognitive aims, scientific realism, causal theories of explanation, Bayesian theories of confirmation, and the search for a non-prescriptive philosophy of science.
Review
"An excellent text. Utterly unique in its depth of historical material."--Michael Goodman,
Humboldt State University"[A] well-known and widely used text.....As in the earlier editions the same writing style and format for organizing the material are preserved. As a result the book rigidly stays at the level of presenting only carefully condensed factual presentations in serial order of the individual authors involved, and scrupulously avoids any critical evaluations or comparisons of the philosophies of science sketched out for the reader."--Physis
"This is a concise and authorative summary of ideas about the scientific methods from antiquity to the present day, hence an invaluable source to students and teachers of philosophy and the history of science."--Kenneth A.R. Kennedy, Cornell University
Review
"An excellent text. Utterly unique in its depth of historical material."--Michael Goodman, Humboldt State University
"[A] well-known and widely used text.....As in the earlier editions the same writing style and format for organizing the material are preserved. As a result the book rigidly stays at the level of presenting only carefully condensed factual presentations in serial order of the individual authors
involved, and scrupulously avoids any critical evaluations or comparisons of the philosophies of science sketched out for the reader."--Physis
"This is a concise and authorative summary of ideas about the scientific methods from antiquity to the present day, hence an invaluable source to students and teachers of philosophy and the history of science."--Kenneth A.R. Kennedy, Cornell University
Synopsis
Designed for first-time readers of the subject, this stimulating introduction offers a historical exposition of differing views on the philosophy of science. With concise profiles presenting the major philosophers whose contributions are discussed in this book, Losee explores the long-argued questions raised by philosophers and scientists about the proper evaluation of science. This new edition incorporates contemporary developments in the discipline, including recent work on theory-appraisal, experimental practice, the debate over scientific realism, and the philosophy of biology. Taking a balanced and informative approach, this work is the ideal introductory volume.
About the Author
John Losee is Professor of Philosophy at Lafayette College, USA.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Aristotle's Philosophy of Science
2. The Pythagorean Orientation
3. The Ideal of Deductive Systemization
4. Atomism and the Concept of Underlying Mechanism
5. Affirmation and Development of Aristotle's Method in the Medieval Period
6. The Debate over Saving the Appearances
7. The Seventeenth-Century Attack on Aristotelian Philosophy
8. Newton's Axiomatic Method
9. Analysis of the Implications of the New Science for a Theory of Scientific Method
10. Inductivism v the Hypothetico-Deductive View of Science
11. Mathematical Positivism and Conventionlism
12. Logical Reconstructivist Philosophy of Science
13. Orthodoxy under Attack
14. Theories of Scientific Progress
15. Explanation, Causation, and Unification
16. Confirmation and Evidential Support
17. The Justification of Evaluative Standards
18. The Debate over Scientific Realism
19. Descriptive Philosophies of Science
Bibliography
Index