Rethinking order : after the laws of nature / Nancy Cartwright and Keith Ward.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cartwright, Nancy, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Order (Philosophy).

Philosophy of nature.

Cosmology.

Physical Description:

xiii, 240 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016.

Summary:

This book presents a radical new picture of natural order. The Newtonian idea of a cosmos ruled by universal and exceptionless laws has been superseded; replaced by a conception of nature as a realm of diverse powers, potencies, and dispositions, a 'dappled world'. There is order in nature, but it is more local, diverse, piecemeal, open, and emergent than Newton imagined. In each chapter expert authors expound the historical context of the idea of laws of nature, and explore the diverse sorts of order actually presupposed by work in physics, biology, and the social sciences. They consider how human freedom might be understood, and explore how Newton's idea of a 'universal designer' might be revised, in this new context. They argue that there is not one unified totalizing programme of science, aiming at the completion of one closed causal system. We live in an ordered universe, but we need to rethink the classical idea of the 'laws of nature' in a more dynamic and creatively diverse way. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 The Historical and Philosophical Setting 5

1 The Rise and Fall of Laws of Nature / Eric Watkins Watkins, Eric 7

2 The Dethronement of Laws in Science / Nancy Cartwright Cartwright, Nancy 25

Part 2 New Modes of Order in the Natural and Social Sciences 53

3 From Order to Chaos and Back Again / Robert C. Bishop Bishop, Robert C., Roman Frigg Frigg, Roman 55

4 Multiple Orders in Biology / Eric Martin Martin, Eric, William Bechtel Bechtel, William 75

5 Realism, Pluralism and Naturalism in Biology / John Dupre Dupre, John 99

6 The Making and Maintenance of Social Order / Eleonora Montuschi Montuschi, Eleonora, Rom Harré Harré, Rom 119

Part 3 Free Will after the Laws of Nature 141

7 Freedom and the Causal Order / T. J. Mawson Mawson, T. J. 143

8 From Laws to Powers / Steven Horst Horst, Steven 157

Part 4 Divine Order 185

9 Order in the Relations between Religion and Science? Reflections on the NOMA Principle of Stephen J. Gould / John Hedley Brooke Brooke, John Hedley 187

10 Concepts of God and the Order of Nature / Keith Ward Ward, Keith 205

11 From Order to God / Russell ReManning ReManning, Russell 223.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781474244060

1474244068

OCLC:

919858194

Publisher Number:

60002107417