An Introduction To The Philosophy Of Science

Description

This book guides readers by gradual steps through the central concepts and debates in the philosophy of science. Using concrete examples from the history of science, Kent W. Staley shows how seemingly abstract philosophical issues are relevant to important aspects of scientific practice. Structured in two parts, the book first tackles the central concepts of the philosophy of science, such as the problem of induction, falsificationism, and underdetermination, and important figures and movements, such as the logical empiricists, Thomas Kuhn, and Paul Feyerabend. The second part turns to contemporary debates in the philosophy of science, such as scientific realism, explanation, the role of values in science, the different views of scientific inference, and probability. This broad yet detailed overview will give readers a strong grounding whilst also providing opportunities for further exploration. It will be of particular interest to students of philosophy, the philosophy of science, and science. Coverpage......Page 2 Halftitle page......Page 3 Title page......Page 4 Copyright page......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 List of figures......Page 8 List of tables......Page 9 Preface: philosophy of science for philosophers, scientists, and everyone else......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 13 List of abbreviations......Page 14 Part I Background and Basic Concepts......Page 16 1 Some problems of induction......Page 17 2 Falsificationism: science without induction?......Page 25 3 Underdetermination......Page 33 4 Logical empiricism and scientific theories......Page 42 5 Kuhn: scientific revolutions as paradigm changes......Page 53 6 Lakatos: scientific research programs......Page 64 7 Feyerabend: epistemological anarchism......Page 74 Part II Ongoing Investigations......Page 86 8 Reasoning with probability: Bayesianism......Page 87 9 Reasoning with probability: frequentism......Page 108 10 Realism and anti-realism......Page 130 11 Explanation......Page 152 12 Values in science......Page 172 References......Page 191 Index......Page 203