Scientific Pluralism Reconsidered : A New Approach to the (Dis)Unity of Science / Stephanie Ruphy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ruphy, Stéphanie, 1968-

Standardized Title:

Pluralismes scientifiques. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (209 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania : University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016.

Summary:

Can we expect our scientific theories to make up a unified structure, or do they form a kind of "patchwork" whose pieces remain independent from each other? Does the proliferation of sometimes-incompatible representations of the same phenomenon compromise the ability of science to deliver reliable knowledge? Is there a single correct way to classify things that science should try to discover, or is taxonomic pluralism here to stay? These questions are at the heart of philosophical debate on the unity or plurality of science, one of the most central issues in philosophy of science today. This book offers a critical overview and a new structure of this debate. It focuses on the methodological, epistemic, and metaphysical commitments of various philosophical attitudes surrounding monism and pluralism, and offers novel perspectives and pluralist theses on scientific methods and objects, reductionism, plurality of representations, natural kinds, and scientific classifications.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Languages, Methods, Objects

The Linguistic Unity of the Vienna Circle

The Question of the Unity of the Object Domain of the Sciences in Carnap's Work

Traditional Methodological Unities

Hacking's Styles of Scientific Reasoning

Ontological Enrichment and "Foliated Pluralism"

2. Intertheoretic Relations and Their Metaphysical Import

Metaphysical Foundations of Antireductionist Theses

From the Failure of Reductionism to the Disorder of Things: A Problematic Inference

Against Cartwright's Nomological Metaphysical Pluralism

Ontological Order and Nomological Disorder in the Structuralist Approach

Nonreductive Intertheoretic Relations and Unity of Nature

Intermediate Conclusion

3. Representations

Current Defining Lines of the Monism versus Pluralism Debate

Simulations of Real-World Physical Systems: A Case of Permanent Incompatible Plurality

Taxonomic Pluralism

Concluding Remarks

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Originally published in French as: Pluralismes scientifiques : enjeux epistemiques et metaphysiques (Paris : Editions Hermann, 2013).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780822981534

082298153X

OCLC:

974566265