Conservative reductionism / Michael Esfeld and Christian Sachse.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Esfeld, Michael, author.

Contributor:

Sachse, Christian.

Series:

Routledge studies in the philosophy of science ; 8.

Routledge studies in the philosophy of science ; 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reductionism.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (212 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Conservative Reductionism sets out a new theory of the relationship between physics and the special sciences within the framework of functionalism. It argues that it is wrong-headed to conceive an opposition between functional and physical properties (or functional and physical descriptions, respectively) and to build an anti-reductionist argument on multiple realization. By contrast, (a) all properties that there are in the world, including the physical ones, are functional properties in the sense of being causal properties, and (b) all true descriptions (laws, theories) that the

Contents:

The dilemma of functionalism

The metaphysics of causal structures

The theory of evolution and causal structures in biology

Case study: classical and molecular genetics

Conservative functional reduction.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [177]-196) and indexes.

ISBN:

1-136-72849-X

1-283-15111-1

9786613151117

1-136-72850-3

0-203-81734-6

9780203817346

OCLC:

730151689