Method and Appraisal in the Physical Sciences

Method and Appraisal in the Physical Sciences PDF Author: Colin Howson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521211109
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
This is a volume of studies on the problems of theory-appraisal in the physical sciences.

Method and Appraisal in the Physical Sciences

Method and Appraisal in the Physical Sciences PDF Author: Colin Howson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521211109
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
This is a volume of studies on the problems of theory-appraisal in the physical sciences.

Critical Appraisal of Physical Science as a Human Enterprise

Critical Appraisal of Physical Science as a Human Enterprise PDF Author: Mansoor Niaz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402096267
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
It is generally believed that doing science means accumulating empirical data with no or little reference to the interpretation of the data based on the scientist’s th- retical framework or presuppositions. Holton (1969a) has deplored the widely accepted myth (experimenticism) according to which progress in science is presented as the inexorable result of the pursuit of logically sound conclusions from un- biguous experimental data. Surprisingly, some of the leading scientists themselves (Millikan is a good example) have contributed to perpetuate the myth with respect to modern science being essentially empirical, that is carefully tested experim- tal facts (free of a priori conceptions), leading to inductive generalizations. Based on the existing knowledge in a field of research a scientist formulates the guiding assumptions (Laudan et al. , 1988), presuppositions (Holton, 1978, 1998) and “hard core” (Lakatos, 1970) of the research program that constitutes the imperative of presuppositions, which is not abandoned in the face of anomalous data. Laudan and his group consider the following paraphrase of Kant by Lakatos as an important guideline: philosophy of science without history of science is empty. Starting in the 1960s, this “historical school” has attempted to redraw and replace the positivist or logical empiricist image of science that dominated for the first half of the twentieth century. Among other aspects, one that looms large in these studies is that of “guiding assumptions” and has considerable implications for the main thesis of this monograph (Chapter 2).

Theories of Scientific Progress

Theories of Scientific Progress PDF Author: John Losee
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415320665
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
There seems little doubt that we have made progress in scientific theories, but how? Theories of Scientific Progress presents the arguments, covers interpretations of scientific progress and discusses the latest contemporary debates.

Is Science Progressive?

Is Science Progressive? PDF Author: I. Niiniluoto
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401719780
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This collection brings together several essays which have been written between the years 197 5 and 1983. During that period I have been occupied with the attempt to find a satisfactory explicate for the notion of tnithlike ness or verisimilitude. The technical results of this search have partly appeared elsewhere, and I am also working on a systematic presentation of them in a companion volume to this book: Truthlikeness (forthcoming hopefully in 1985). The essays collected in this book are less formal and more philos ophical: they all explore various aspects of the idea that progress in science is associated with an increase in the truthlikeness of its results. Even though they do not exhaust the problem area of scientific change, together they constitute a step in the direction which I find most promising in the defence of critical scientific realism. * Chapter 1 appeared originally in Finnish as the opening article of a new journal Tiede 2000 (no. 1 I 1980) - a Finnish counterpart to journals such as Science and Scientific American. This explains its programmatic character. It tries to give a compact answer to the question 'What is science?', and serves therefore as an introduction to the problem area of the later chapters. Chapter 2 is a revised translation of my inaugural lecture for the chair of Theoretical Philosophy in the University of Helsinki on April 8, 1981. It appeared in Finnish inParnasso 31 (1981), pp.

A Sceptical Theory of Scientific Inquiry: Problems and Their Progress

A Sceptical Theory of Scientific Inquiry: Problems and Their Progress PDF Author: Laurence Barry Briskman
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900442962X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
A Sceptical Theory of Scientific Inquiry: Problems and Their Progress presents a distinctive re-interpretation of Popper’s ‘critical rationalism’, displaying the kind of spirit found at the L.S.E. before Popper’s retirement. It offers an alternative to interpretations of critical rationalism which have emphasised the significance of research programmes or metaphysics (Lakatos; Nicholas Maxwell), and is closer to the approach of Jagdish Hattiangadi. Briskman gives priority to methodological argument rather than logical formalisms, and takes further his own work on creativity. In addition to offering an important contribution to the understanding of critical rationalism, the book contains interesting engagements with Michael Polanyi and the Meno Paradox. This volume also contains an introduction by the editor, which situates Briskman’s work in the history of the interpretation of ‘critical rationalism’.

For and Against Method

For and Against Method PDF Author: Imre Lakatos
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226467031
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
The work that helped to determine Paul Feyerabend's fame and notoriety, Against Method, stemmed from Imre Lakatos's challenge: "In 1970 Imre cornered me at a party. 'Paul,' he said, 'you have such strange ideas. Why don't you write them down? I shall write a reply, we publish the whole thing and I promise you—we shall have a lot of fun.' " Although Lakatos died before he could write his reply, For and Against Method reconstructs his original counter-arguments from lectures and correspondence previously unpublished in English, allowing us to enjoy the "fun" two of this century's most eminent philosophers had, matching their wits and ideas on the subject of the scientific method. For and Against Method opens with an imaginary dialogue between Lakatos and Feyerabend, which Matteo Motterlini has constructed, based on their published works, to synthesize their positions and arguments. Part one presents the transcripts of the last lectures on method that Lakatos delivered. Part two, Feyerabend's response, consists of a previously published essay on anarchism, which began the attack on Lakatos's position that Feyerabend later continued in Against Method. The third and longest section consists of the correspondence Lakatos and Feyerabend exchanged on method and many other issues and ideas, as well as the events of their daily lives, between 1968 and Lakatos's death in 1974. The delight Lakatos and Feyerabend took in philosophical debate, and the relish with which they sparred, come to life again in For and Against Method, making it essential and lively reading for anyone interested in these two fascinating and controversial thinkers and their immense contributions to philosophy of science. "The writings in this volume are of considerable intellectual importance, and will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the development of the philosophical views of Lakatos and Feyerabend, or indeed with the development of philosophy of science in general during this crucial period."—Donald Gillies, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (on the Italian edition) "A stimulating exchange of letters between two philosophical entertainers."—Tariq Ali, The Independent Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) was professor of logic at the London School of Economics. He was the author of Proofs and Refutations and the two-volume Philosophical Papers. Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) was educated in Europe and held numerous teaching posts throughout his career. Among his books are Against Method; Science in a Free Society; Farewell to Reason; and Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend, the last published by the University of Chicago Press.

Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason

Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason PDF Author: John Kadvany
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822380447
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
The Hungarian émigré Imre Lakatos (1922–1974) earned a worldwide reputation through the influential philosophy of science debates involving Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend, and Sir Karl Popper. In Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason John Kadvany shows that embedded in Lakatos’s English-language work is a remarkable historical philosophy rooted in his Hungarian past. Below the surface of his life as an Anglo-American philosopher of science and mathematics, Lakatos covertly introduced novel transformations of Hegelian and Marxist ideas about historiography, skepticism, criticism, and rationality. Lakatos escaped Hungary following the failed 1956 Revolution. Before then, he had been an influential Communist intellectual and was imprisoned for years by the Stalinist regime. He also wrote a lost doctoral thesis in the philosophy of science and participated in what was criminal behavior in all but a legal sense. Kadvany argues that this intellectual and political past animates Lakatos’s English-language philosophy, and that, whether intended or not, Lakatos integrated a penetrating vision of Hegelian ideas with rigorous analysis of mathematical proofs and controversial histories of science. Including new applications of Lakatos’s ideas to the histories of mathematical logic and economics and providing lucid exegesis of many of Hegel’s basic ideas, Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason is an exciting reconstruction of ideas and episodes from the history of philosophy, science, mathematics, and modern political history.

The Historiography of Economics

The Historiography of Economics PDF Author: A.W. Bob Coats
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136018565
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 545

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Book Description
This is the third and final volume of collected papers of A.W. Bob Coats. Coats began to collect material for this volume in the years following the publication of the second volume in 1993, but sadly died in 2007, before the work was completed. The volume has now been completed under the editorship of Roger Backhouse and Bruce Caldwell. Along with his articles, the compilation of the volume also reflects Coats’ interest in and commitment to book reviews, a selection of which have been chosen for inclusion. The book also includes a comprehensive bibliography. In addition to a preface by Backhouse and Caldwell, the volume also reproduces the obituary that was published in History of Political Economy, a memoir published in 1996, and an interview with Grant Fleming, published the previous year. Together, the introductory materials, articles and reviews serve as a fitting tribute to the body of work of Bob Coats.

On the History of Economic Thought

On the History of Economic Thought PDF Author: A. W. Bob Coats
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134918305
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
Following an introduction to the key ideas of Coats, this work focuses on two themes: the difference between British and American economics, both in content and in the practice of the profession; and the interrelationships between economic ideas, events (or conditions) and policy issues.

Imre Lakatos and Theories of Scientific Change

Imre Lakatos and Theories of Scientific Change PDF Author: K. Gavroglu
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400930259
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
How happy it is to recall Imre Lakatos. Now, fifteen years after his death, his intelligence, wit, generosity are vivid. In the Preface to the book of Essays in Memory of Imre Lakatos (Boston Studies, 39, 1976), the editors wrote: ... Lakatos was a man in search of rationality in all of its forms. He thought he had found it in the historical development of scientific knowledge, yet he also saw rationality endangered everywhere. To honor Lakatos is to honor his sharp and aggressive criticism as well as his humane warmth and his quick wit. He was a person to love and to struggle with. The book before us carries old and new friends of that Lakatosian spirit further into the issues which he wanted to investigate. That the new friends include a dozen scientific, historical and philosophical scholars from Greece would have pleased Lakatos very much, and with an essay from China, he would have smiled all the more. But the key lies in the quality of these papers, and in the imaginative organization of the conference at Thessaloniki in summer 1986 which worked so well.