Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural ScienceThis 1983 book is a lively and clearly written introduction to the philosophy of natural science, organized around the central theme of scientific realism. It has two parts. 'Representing' deals with the different philosophical accounts of scientific objectivity and the reality of scientific entities. The views of Kuhn, Feyerabend, Lakatos, Putnam, van Fraassen, and others, are all considered. 'Intervening' presents the first sustained treatment of experimental science for many years and uses it to give a new direction to debates about realism. Hacking illustrates how experimentation often has a life independent of theory. He argues that although the philosophical problems of scientific realism can not be resolved when put in terms of theory alone, a sound philosophy of experiment provides compelling grounds for a realistic attitude. A great many scientific examples are described in both parts of the book, which also includes lucid expositions of recent high energy physics and a remarkable chapter on the microscope in cell biology. |
Contents
REPRESENTING | |
OOIO3UllDJlJl What is scientific realism? | |
Positivism | |
Positivists such as A Comte E Mach and B van Fraassen are anti | |
Reals and representations | |
Experiment | |
Microscopes | |
Speculation calculation models approximations | |
The creation of phenomena | |
Measurement | |
Baconian topics | |
Experimentation and scientific realism | |
Further reading | |
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Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of ... Ian Hacking Limited preview - 1983 |
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acids aether anti-realism anti-realist artifacts atoms Bacon believe called Carnap causal century Chapter Comte concepts conjecture diffraction doctrine effect electromagnetic electrons empirical example experimental explanation fact Faraday Feyerabend Fraassen glyptodon growth of knowledge Hilary Putnam human hypotheses idea Imre Lakatos incommensurability inference interactions invented Josephson effect Kant Kant’s Kuhn Kuhn’s Lakatos Lakatos’s language laws Leibniz light logical logical positivism logical positivists mathematical matter Maxwell meaning measurement mesons metaphysics Michelson microscope Millikan mind models molecules muons natural kind natural science Newton Newtonian normal science noumena objects observation optics particles Paul Feyerabend Peirce perhaps phenomena phenomenon philosophical philosophy of science photons physicists physics polarized Popper positivism positivist postulated precise problems produce Putnam quantum quarks rationality reality reference representation research programme result scientific realism sense sentences sort specimen speculation structure suppose T.S. Kuhn talk theoretical entities things thought true understanding wave word