A Philosopher Looks at Science
Part of A Philosopher Looks At
- Author: Nancy Cartwright, Durham University
- Date Published: October 2022
- availability: In stock
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781009201889
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What is science and what can it do? Nancy Cartwright here takes issue with three common images of science: that it amounts to the combination of theory and experiment; that all science is basically reducible to physics; and that science and the natural world which it pictures are deterministic. The author's innovative and thoughtful book draws on examples from the physical, life, and social sciences alike, and focuses on all the products of science – not just experiments or theories – and how they work together. She reveals just what it is that makes science ultimately reliable, and how this reliability is nevertheless still compatible with a view of nature as more responsive to human change than we might think. Her book is a call for greater intellectual humility by and within scientific institutions. It will have strong appeal to anyone who thinks about science and how it is practised in society.
Read more- A refreshing, engaging and authoritative new take on science by one of our foremost contemporary philosophers
- Shows what is wrong with common perceptions of science and argues for a more nuanced approach
- Highlights why intellectual humility in scientific institutions matters and what can go wrong when this is absent
Reviews & endorsements
‘When the philosopher Nancy Cartwright looks at science … she challenges the image of scientists who simply produce bold theories and put these to experimental tests. She sees a rich and complex network of activities and methods; together they help us to develop the concepts in which our theories are formulated, build models and forge narratives with which to understand the world, and create the phenomena required to put these theories to work and to the test.’ Times Literary Supplement
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×Product details
- Date Published: October 2022
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781009201889
- length: 222 pages
- dimensions: 198 x 129 x 19 mm
- weight: 0.29kg
- availability: In stock
Table of Contents
Introduction: What's in this Book?
1. Theory + Experiment do not a Science Make
2. Dethroning the Queen
3. A Nature more Negotiable.
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