Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science

Description

The last two decades have seen two significant trends emerging within the philosophy of science: the rapid development and focus on the philosophy of the specialised sciences, and a resurgence of Aristotelian metaphysics, much of which is concerned with the possibility of emergence, as well as the ontological status and indispensability of dispositions and powers in science. Despite these recent trends, few Aristotelian metaphysicians have engaged directly with the philosophy of the specialised sciences. Additionally, the relationship between fundamental Aristotelian concepts—such as "hylomorphism", "substance", and "faculties"—and contemporary science has yet to receive a critical and systematic treatment. Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science aims to fill this gap in the literature by bringing together essays on the relationship between Aristotelianism and science that cut across interdisciplinary boundaries. The chapters in this volume are divided into two main sections covering the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of the life sciences. Featuring original contributions from distinguished and early-career scholars, this book will be of interest to specialists in analytical metaphysics and the philosophy of science. Contents Acknowledgements Foreword JOHN HALDANE Introduction: Reflections on Contemporary Science and the New Aristotelianism ROBERT C. KOONS, WILLIAM M. R. SIMPSON, AND NICHOLAS J. TEH PART 1 The Philosophy of Physics 1 Dodging the Fundamentalist Threat XAVI LANAO AND NICHOLAS J. TEH 2 Actuality, Potentiality, and Relativity’s Block Universe EDWARD FESER 3 The Many Worlds Interpretation of QM: A Hylomorphic Critique and Alternative ROBERT C. KOONS 4 A Traveling Forms Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics ALEXANDER R. PRUSS 5 Half-Baked Humeanism WILLIAM M. R. SIMPSON 6 Disentangling Nature’s Joints TUOMAS E. TAHKO PART 2 The Philosophy of the Life Sciences 7 Structural Powers and the Homeodynamic Unity of Organisms CHRISTOPHER J. AUSTIN AND ANNA MARMODORO 8 A Biologically Informed Hylomorphism CHRISTOPHER J. AUSTIN 9 The Great Unifier: Form and the Unity of the Organism DAVID S. ODERBERG 10 Action, Animacy, and Substance Causation JANICE CHIK BREIDENBACH 11 Psychology Without a Mental-Physical Dichotomy WILLIAM JAWORSKI 12 Hylomorphism and the New Mechanist Philosophy in Biology, Neuroscience, and Psychology DANIEL D. DE HAAN About the Contributors Index