Science, Action, and Reality

Science, Action, and Reality

Author: R. Tuomela

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9400954468

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Were one to characterize the aims of this book ambitiously, it could be said to sketch the philosophical foundations or underpinnings of the scientific world view or, better, of the scientific conception of the world. In any case, it develops a comprehensive philosophical view, one which takes science seri ously as the best method for getting to know the ontological aspects of the world. This view is a kind of scientific realism - causal internal realism, as it is dubbed in the book. This brand of realism is "tough" in matters of ontology but "soft" in matters of semantics and epistemology. An ancestor of the book was published in Finnish under the title Tiede, toiminta ja todellisuus (Gaudeamus, 1983). That book is a shortish undergraduate-level monograph. However, as some research-level chapters have been added, the present book is perhaps best regarded as suited for more advanced readers. I completed the book while my stay at the University of Wisconsin in Madison as a Visiting Professor under the Exchange Program between the Universities of Wisconsin and Helsinki. I gratefully acknowledge this support. I also wish to thank Juhani Saalo and Martti Kuokkanen for comments on the manuscript and for editorial help. Dr Matti Sintonen translated the Finnish ancestor of this book into English, to be used as a partial basis for this work. His translation was supported by a grant from Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden edistamisvarat. Finally, and as usual, I wish to thank Mrs.


Pandora’s Hope

Pandora’s Hope

Author: Bruno Latour

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1999-06-30

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9780674653351

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A scientist friend asked Bruno Latour point-blank: “Do you believe in reality?” Taken aback by this strange query, Latour offers his meticulous response in Pandora’s Hope. It is a remarkable argument for understanding the reality of science in practical terms. In this book, Latour, identified by Richard Rorty as the new “bête noire of the science worshipers,” gives us his most philosophically informed book since Science in Action. Through case studies of scientists in the Amazon analyzing soil and in Pasteur’s lab studying the fermentation of lactic acid, he shows us the myriad steps by which events in the material world are transformed into items of scientific knowledge. Through many examples in the world of technology, we see how the material and human worlds come together and are reciprocally transformed in this process. Why, Latour asks, did the idea of an independent reality, free of human interaction, emerge in the first place? His answer to this question, harking back to the debates between Might and Right narrated by Plato, points to the real stakes in the so-called science wars: the perplexed submission of ordinary people before the warring forces of claimants to the ultimate truth.


Theory of Reality

Theory of Reality

Author: David O. Wiebers

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 9780985937522

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"The Theory of Reality combines key elements of neuroscience, physics and metaphysical science to provide critical evidence for existence beyond the brain with practical everyday application for increased compassion, effectiveness and higher understanding in your life. Discover worldview-changing evidence regarding the most basic and profound questions of humankind, and explore the fundamental fabrics of our universe and the purpose of our lives. Equip yourself with new knowledge and empowering tools and techniques designed to help you "put it all together" and chart your own spiritual adventure. Take control of your own life journey and allow inspiration, uncommon creativity and greater happiness to unfold."


Science and the Quest for Reality

Science and the Quest for Reality

Author: Alfred I. Tauber

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-07-27

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 1349252492

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Science and the Quest for Reality is an interdisciplinary anthology that situates contemporary science within its complex philosophical, historical, and sociological contexts. The anthology is divided between, firstly, characterizing science as an intellectual activity and, secondly, defining its social role. The philosophical and historical vicissitudes of science's truth claims has raised profound questions concerning the role of science in society beyond its technological innovations. The deeper philosophical issues thus complement the critical inquiry concerning the broader social and ethical influence of contemporary science. In the tradition of the 'Main Trends of the Modern World' series, this volume includes both classical and contemporary works on the subject.


Theory and Reality

Theory and Reality

Author: Peter Godfrey-Smith

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2021-07-16

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 022677113X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is “really” like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses these questions by taking the reader on a grand tour of more than a hundred years of debate about science. The result is a completely accessible introduction to the main themes of the philosophy of science. Examples and asides engage the beginning student, a glossary of terms explains key concepts, and suggestions for further reading are included at the end of each chapter. Like no other text in this field, Theory and Reality combines a survey of recent history of the philosophy of science with current key debates that any beginning scholar or critical reader can follow. The second edition is thoroughly updated and expanded by the author with a new chapter on truth, simplicity, and models in science.


The Scenes of Inquiry

The Scenes of Inquiry

Author: Nicholas Jardine

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 9780198250395

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This text advocates a radical shift of concern in philosophical, historical, and sociological studies of the sciences, from answers and doctrines to questions and problems, and explores the consequences of such a shift.


Science, Action, and Reality

Science, Action, and Reality

Author: R. Tuomela

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1985-09-30

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9789027720986

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Were one to characterize the aims of this book ambitiously, it could be said to sketch the philosophical foundations or underpinnings of the scientific world view or, better, of the scientific conception of the world. In any case, it develops a comprehensive philosophical view, one which takes science seri ously as the best method for getting to know the ontological aspects of the world. This view is a kind of scientific realism - causal internal realism, as it is dubbed in the book. This brand of realism is "tough" in matters of ontology but "soft" in matters of semantics and epistemology. An ancestor of the book was published in Finnish under the title Tiede, toiminta ja todellisuus (Gaudeamus, 1983). That book is a shortish undergraduate-level monograph. However, as some research-level chapters have been added, the present book is perhaps best regarded as suited for more advanced readers. I completed the book while my stay at the University of Wisconsin in Madison as a Visiting Professor under the Exchange Program between the Universities of Wisconsin and Helsinki. I gratefully acknowledge this support. I also wish to thank Juhani Saalo and Martti Kuokkanen for comments on the manuscript and for editorial help. Dr Matti Sintonen translated the Finnish ancestor of this book into English, to be used as a partial basis for this work. His translation was supported by a grant from Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden edistamisvarat. Finally, and as usual, I wish to thank Mrs.


Decoding Reality

Decoding Reality

Author: Vlatko Vedral

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0198815433

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this engaging and mind-stretching book, Vlatko Vedral explores the nature of information and looks at quantum computing, discussing the bizarre effects that arise from the quantum world. He concludes by asking the ultimate question: where did all of the information in the Universe come from?


A Realist Theory of Science

A Realist Theory of Science

Author: Roy Bhaskar

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 1789603536

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.