Author: Nancy Cartwright
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009201905
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
What is science and what can it do? Nancy Cartwright here takes issue with three common images of science: that it amounts to the combination of theory and experiment; that all science is basically reducible to physics; and that science and the natural world which it pictures are deterministic. The author's innovative and thoughtful book draws on examples from the physical, life, and social sciences alike, and focuses on all the products of science – not just experiments or theories – and how they work together. She reveals just what it is that makes science ultimately reliable, and how this reliability is nevertheless still compatible with a view of nature as more responsive to human change than we might think. Her book is a call for greater intellectual humility by and within scientific institutions. It will have strong appeal to anyone who thinks about science and how it is practised in society.
A Philosopher Looks at Science
Author: Nancy Cartwright
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009201905
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
What is science and what can it do? Nancy Cartwright here takes issue with three common images of science: that it amounts to the combination of theory and experiment; that all science is basically reducible to physics; and that science and the natural world which it pictures are deterministic. The author's innovative and thoughtful book draws on examples from the physical, life, and social sciences alike, and focuses on all the products of science – not just experiments or theories – and how they work together. She reveals just what it is that makes science ultimately reliable, and how this reliability is nevertheless still compatible with a view of nature as more responsive to human change than we might think. Her book is a call for greater intellectual humility by and within scientific institutions. It will have strong appeal to anyone who thinks about science and how it is practised in society.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009201905
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
What is science and what can it do? Nancy Cartwright here takes issue with three common images of science: that it amounts to the combination of theory and experiment; that all science is basically reducible to physics; and that science and the natural world which it pictures are deterministic. The author's innovative and thoughtful book draws on examples from the physical, life, and social sciences alike, and focuses on all the products of science – not just experiments or theories – and how they work together. She reveals just what it is that makes science ultimately reliable, and how this reliability is nevertheless still compatible with a view of nature as more responsive to human change than we might think. Her book is a call for greater intellectual humility by and within scientific institutions. It will have strong appeal to anyone who thinks about science and how it is practised in society.
A Philosopher Looks at Science
Author: Nancy Cartwright
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781009201896
Category : SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
"Three common images of science, widely shared alike by philosophers, scientists and people in general: 1) science = theory + experiment, 2) it's all physics really, 3) science is deterministic: it says that what happens next follows inexorably from what happened before. This book paints, one-by-one, alternative pictures to these three standard images of science "--
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781009201896
Category : SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
"Three common images of science, widely shared alike by philosophers, scientists and people in general: 1) science = theory + experiment, 2) it's all physics really, 3) science is deterministic: it says that what happens next follows inexorably from what happened before. This book paints, one-by-one, alternative pictures to these three standard images of science "--
A Philosopher Looks at Human Beings
Author: Michael Ruse
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108820433
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Considers why humans consider themselves superior to all other animals, and whether they are right to do so.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108820433
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Considers why humans consider themselves superior to all other animals, and whether they are right to do so.
A Philosopher Looks at Sport
Author: Stephen Mumford
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108994938
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
Introduces the reader to a host of philosophical topics found in sport, exploring the place of sport in our lives.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108994938
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
Introduces the reader to a host of philosophical topics found in sport, exploring the place of sport in our lives.
A Philosopher Looks at Work
Author: Raymond Geuss
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108930611
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
A survey on the nature of work, integrating conceptual analysis, historical reflection, autobiography and social commentary.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108930611
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
A survey on the nature of work, integrating conceptual analysis, historical reflection, autobiography and social commentary.
A Philosopher Looks at Science
Author: Nancy Cartwright
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009201883
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
A fresh, provocative and engaging treatment of what science really amounts to in society, and of what it can do.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009201883
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
A fresh, provocative and engaging treatment of what science really amounts to in society, and of what it can do.
A Philosopher Looks at Architecture
Author: Paul Guyer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108909566
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
What should our buildings look like? Or is their usability more important than their appearance? Paul Guyer argues that the fundamental goals of architecture first identified by the Roman architect Marcus Pollio Vitruvius - good construction, functionality, and aesthetic appeal - have remained valid despite constant changes in human activities, building materials and technologies, as well as in artistic styles and cultures. Guyer discusses philosophers and architects throughout history, including Alberti, Kant, Ruskin, Wright, and Loos, and surveys the ways in which their ideas are brought to life in buildings across the world. He also considers the works and words of contemporary architects including Annabelle Selldorf, Herzog and de Meuron, and Steven Holl, and shows that - despite changing times and fashions - good architecture continues to be something worth striving for. This new series offers short and personal perspectives by expert thinkers on topics that we all encounter in our everyday lives.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108909566
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
What should our buildings look like? Or is their usability more important than their appearance? Paul Guyer argues that the fundamental goals of architecture first identified by the Roman architect Marcus Pollio Vitruvius - good construction, functionality, and aesthetic appeal - have remained valid despite constant changes in human activities, building materials and technologies, as well as in artistic styles and cultures. Guyer discusses philosophers and architects throughout history, including Alberti, Kant, Ruskin, Wright, and Loos, and surveys the ways in which their ideas are brought to life in buildings across the world. He also considers the works and words of contemporary architects including Annabelle Selldorf, Herzog and de Meuron, and Steven Holl, and shows that - despite changing times and fashions - good architecture continues to be something worth striving for. This new series offers short and personal perspectives by expert thinkers on topics that we all encounter in our everyday lives.
Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal
Author: Heather E. Douglas
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 082297357X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
The role of science in policymaking has gained unprecedented stature in the United States, raising questions about the place of science and scientific expertise in the democratic process. Some scientists have been given considerable epistemic authority in shaping policy on issues of great moral and cultural significance, and the politicizing of these issues has become highly contentious. Since World War II, most philosophers of science have purported the concept that science should be "value-free." In Science, Policy and the Value-Free Ideal, Heather E. Douglas argues that such an ideal is neither adequate nor desirable for science. She contends that the moral responsibilities of scientists require the consideration of values even at the heart of science. She lobbies for a new ideal in which values serve an essential function throughout scientific inquiry, but where the role values play is constrained at key points, thus protecting the integrity and objectivity of science. In this vein, Douglas outlines a system for the application of values to guide scientists through points of uncertainty fraught with moral valence.Following a philosophical analysis of the historical background of science advising and the value-free ideal, Douglas defines how values should-and should not-function in science. She discusses the distinctive direct and indirect roles for values in reasoning, and outlines seven senses of objectivity, showing how each can be employed to determine the reliability of scientific claims. Douglas then uses these philosophical insights to clarify the distinction between junk science and sound science to be used in policymaking. In conclusion, she calls for greater openness on the values utilized in policymaking, and more public participation in the policymaking process, by suggesting various models for effective use of both the public and experts in key risk assessments.
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 082297357X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
The role of science in policymaking has gained unprecedented stature in the United States, raising questions about the place of science and scientific expertise in the democratic process. Some scientists have been given considerable epistemic authority in shaping policy on issues of great moral and cultural significance, and the politicizing of these issues has become highly contentious. Since World War II, most philosophers of science have purported the concept that science should be "value-free." In Science, Policy and the Value-Free Ideal, Heather E. Douglas argues that such an ideal is neither adequate nor desirable for science. She contends that the moral responsibilities of scientists require the consideration of values even at the heart of science. She lobbies for a new ideal in which values serve an essential function throughout scientific inquiry, but where the role values play is constrained at key points, thus protecting the integrity and objectivity of science. In this vein, Douglas outlines a system for the application of values to guide scientists through points of uncertainty fraught with moral valence.Following a philosophical analysis of the historical background of science advising and the value-free ideal, Douglas defines how values should-and should not-function in science. She discusses the distinctive direct and indirect roles for values in reasoning, and outlines seven senses of objectivity, showing how each can be employed to determine the reliability of scientific claims. Douglas then uses these philosophical insights to clarify the distinction between junk science and sound science to be used in policymaking. In conclusion, she calls for greater openness on the values utilized in policymaking, and more public participation in the policymaking process, by suggesting various models for effective use of both the public and experts in key risk assessments.
A Philosopher Looks at Digital Communication
Author: Onora O'Neill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108986811
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 157
Book Description
Explores how digital technologies have raised new ethical issues for communication.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108986811
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 157
Book Description
Explores how digital technologies have raised new ethical issues for communication.
How the Laws of Physics Lie
Author: Nancy Cartwright
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191519901
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
In this sequence of philosophical essays about natural science, Nancy Cartwright argues that fundamental explanatory laws, the deepest and most admired successes of modern physics, do not in fact describe the regularities that exist in nature. Yet she is not `anti-realist'. Rather, she draws a novel distinction, arguing that theoretical entities, and the complex and localized laws that describe them, can be interpreted realistically, but that the simple unifying laws of basic theory cannot.
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191519901
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
In this sequence of philosophical essays about natural science, Nancy Cartwright argues that fundamental explanatory laws, the deepest and most admired successes of modern physics, do not in fact describe the regularities that exist in nature. Yet she is not `anti-realist'. Rather, she draws a novel distinction, arguing that theoretical entities, and the complex and localized laws that describe them, can be interpreted realistically, but that the simple unifying laws of basic theory cannot.