Metaphysics and science / edited by Stephen Mumford and Matthew Tugby.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mumford, Stephen.

Tugby, Matthew.

Series:

Mind Association occasional series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Physical Description:

viii, 244 pages ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

Metaphysics and Science brings together important new work within an emerging philosophical discipline: the metaphysics of science. In the opening chapter, a definition of the metaphysics of science is offered, one which explains why the topics of laws, causation, natural kinds, and emergence are at the discipline's heart. The book is then divided into four sections, which group together papers from leading academics on each of those four topics. Among the questions discussed are: How are laws and measurement methods related? Can a satisfactory reductive account of laws be given? How can Lorentz transformation laws be explained? How are dispositions triggered? What role should dispositional properties play in our understanding of causation? Are natural kinds and natural properties distinct? How is the Kripke-Putnam semantics for natural kind terms related to the natural kind essentialist thesis? What would have to be the case for natural kind terms to have determinate reference? What bearing, if any, does nonlinearity in science have on the issue of metaphysical emergence? This collection will be of interest to philosophers, scientists and post-graduates working on problems at the intersection of metaphysics and science. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 What is the metaphysics of science? / Stephen Mumford Mumford, Stephen, Matthew Tugby Tugby, Matthew 3

Part I Laws

2 Measurement, laws, and counterfactuals / John T. Roberts Roberts, John T. 29

3 Laws, causes, and invariance / Jim Woodward Woodward, Jim 48

4 How to explain the Lorentz transformations / Marc Lange Lange, Marc 73

Part II Dispositions and Causes

5 A disposition-based process-theory of causation / Andreas Hüttemann Hüttemann, Andreas 101

6 How to activate a power / Jennifer McKitrick McKitrick, Jennifer 123

Part III Natural Kinds

7 How to carve across the joints in nature without abandoning Kripke-Putnam semantics / Helen Beebee Beebee, Helen 141

8 Are natural kinds and natural properties distinct? / Emma Tobin Tobin, Emma 164

9 Realism about structure and kinds / L.A. Paul Paul, L.A. 183

Part IV Emergence

10 Nonlinearity and metaphysical emergence / Jessica Wilson Wilson, Jessica 201.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0199674523

9780199674527

OCLC:

846890217