Scientific Explanation


Book Description




Scientific Explanation


Book Description




Theoretical Virtues in Science


Book Description

In-depth discussion of the value of scientific theories, bringing together and advancing current important debates in realism.




Reality and Rationality


Book Description

This volume of articles (most published, some new) is a follow-up to the late Wesley C. Salmon's widely read collection Causality And Explanation (OUP 1998). It contains both published and unpublished articles, and focuses on two related areas of inquiry: First, is science a rational enterprise? Secondly, does science yield objective information about our world, even the aspects that we cannot observe directly? Salmon's own take is that objective knowledge of the world is possible, and his work in these articles centers around proving that this can be so. Salmon's influential standing in the field ensures that this volume will be of interest to both undergraduates and professional philosophers, primarily in the philosophy of science.




David Harvey's Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)


Book Description

The emphasis of this book is to explore two major philosophical influences in contemporary human geography, namely logical positivism and Marxism, and to explore the relationships between philosophy, methodology and geographical research. Rather than being a biography of David Harvey, the book contributes to the understanding of one of the most innovative and iconoclastic scholars in contemporary Anglo-American human geography.




On Keynes's Method


Book Description

Economists have traditionally regarded "Treatise On Probability" by Keynes as an anomaly amongst his published writings. This volume attempts to fix "Probability" firmly in its early 20th century philosophical setting and to link its concerns to a lifetimes' work as an economist.




Interdisciplinarity and Archaeology


Book Description

This book explores the history of interdisciplinary relationships between archaeology and other branches of knowledge in Europe and elsewhere. This is a largely untold history that needs to be unpacked. This book brings to light some of the events leading towards interdisciplinary relations in archaeology from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. It encompasses ten scholarly contributions that offer a critical overview of this complex, dynamic and long-lasting transformative process. This is a pioneering project in the field of the history of archaeology, as it is the first to examine the inclusion into archaeological practice of various disciplines categorized under the umbrella of hard, natural and social sciences, as well as the humanities. The authors of this volume include internationally acknowledged scholars of the history of archaeology, such as Margarita Díaz-Andreu, Nathan Schlanger and Oscar Moro, as well as other well-established authors in the field from Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland. The chapters cover a wide range of topics. Several of them deal with interdisciplinarity in archaeology on a more general level by analysing its relationship with other sciences in specific countries. Other chapters discuss the incorporation of disciplines such as palynology and zoology into archaeology, either on a wider scale or using certain countries as case studies. Some authors focus on the work of scholars as starting points for examining the intersection between antiquarianism, archaeology, the natural sciences and numismatics, while others theorize on the influence of epistemology and philosophy of science on archaeological theory and practice. Finally, the influence of the army is also discussed in the development of archaeology.




Arguing about Science


Book Description

This title offers a selection of thought-provoking articles that examine a broad range of issues, from the demarcation problem, induction and explanation to contemporary issues such as the relationship between science and race and gender, and science and religion




The Evolution Delusion


Book Description

Does the field of evolution differ from other sciences? The author, a reviewer for a major medical journal, scrutinized hundreds of scientific references in evolutionary literature, adopting the same standards used for studies submitted for medical publication. The data show that there are two types of evolution, microevolution and macroevolution, with a clear boundary between them based upon the presence and absence of empirical evidence, respectively. The surprising results show that there is a universal disconnect between the data and the conclusions that claim to show the larger changes of macroevolution. The author reveals patterns of deviations from standard scientific methods in these studies. For the first time, evolutionary data have been summarized to describe both what evolution can and cannot accomplish. The author shows the reader how to recognize the different ways in which the evidence for microevolution within and between some species differs from the unsupported macroevolution of most species. Previous critiques of macroevolution have been debunked by advocates who have cited a multitude of scientific studies. This book goes beyond previous critiques by directly addressing the data from these studies to see if they do, in fact, support macroevolution-focused conclusions. Many expert counterarguments against this book’s thesis are presented and examined in the context of scientific research to reassure the reader that the author has left no stone unturned in the macroevolution debate. A theory is proposed as to why there may be no empirical evidence for macroevolution. The book concludes with a section entitled “What we see differently.” There, the author shows the reader the differences in perspective between the evolutionist and macroevolution critic as they look at and interpret the very same set of data.