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Books in Philosophy

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Foundations of the Probabilistic Mechanics of Discrete Media

  • 1st Edition
  • March 16, 2016
  • D. R. Axelrad
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 8 5 7 2 - 6
This latest volume in the Foundations & Philosophy of Science & Technology series provides an account of probabilistic functional analysis and shows its applicability in the formulation of the behaviour of discrete media with the inclusion of microstructural effects. Although quantum mechanics have long been recognized as a stochastic theory, the introduction of probabilistic concepts and principles to classical mechanics has in general not been attempted. In this study the author takes the view that the significant field quantities of a discrete medium are random variables or functions of such variables. Hence the probabilistic mechanics of discrete media are based on the mathematical theory of probability and the axiomatics of measure theory.

A New Morality from Science

  • 1st Edition
  • January 22, 2016
  • Arnold P. Goldstein
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 9 3 0 9 - 7
Pergamon General Psychology Series: A New Morality from Science: Beyondism focuses on the role of science in establishing ethical values. The publication first elaborates on three gateways to the understanding of life, origins of uncertainty and confusion, and basic logic of beyondism. Discussions focus on moral laws within groups and the fallacy of universalization; planned bio-cultural diversity of groups in the great experiment; absence of institutional mechanisms specifically to create progress; social construction without positive value construction; and humanity and the ever-open gateway of religion. The manuscript then examines moral directives derivable from the beyondist goal and psychological problems in human adjustment to the new ethics. The book takes a look at the departure of beyondism from traditional and current ethical systems; impact of evolutionary values on current socio-political practices; and integration of the emotional life with progressive institutions. Topics include mutual services of beyondism and the arts, setting of the research institutes for the world federation and free enquirers, community goals in population size, class, and internal diversity, and the reconstruction needed for a scientifically rational politics. The manuscript is a dependable reference for researchers interested in the role of science in establishing ethical values.

Investigating the Life Sciences

  • 1st Edition
  • December 5, 2014
  • G. M. N. Verschuuren
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 9 7 2 2 - 4
A unique introduction to the philosophy of science with special emphasis on the life sciences. Part I presents elementary but fundamental concepts and problems in epistemology and their relation to questions of scientific methodology. Part II deals with case studies from the history of biology which illustrate particular philosophical points while Part III progresses to more complex ideas as on the nature and methodology of science. Part IV discusses the limitations of scientific enquiry and its relations to other systems of knowledge and interpretation.

Philosophy and Archaeology

  • 1st Edition
  • June 28, 2014
  • Merrilee H. Salmon
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 9 5 7 7 - 0
Studies in Archaeology: Philosophy and Archaeology presents the circumstances under which archeological hypotheses can be considered confirmed or disconfirmed. This book discusses the role of analogy in archeological reasoning, particularly in ascribing functions to archeological items. Organized into seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the relationship between archeology and philosophy. This text then examines the importance of laws for archeology and discusses some essential features of law statements. Other chapters consider the strong claims for the hypothetico–deductive method of confirmation in various works by archeologists. This book discusses as well the different uses of analogical reasoning in archeology and provides a discussion of the structure of analogical arguments, criteria for evaluating them, and their relations to the Bayesian arguments for confirmation. The final chapter deals with several issues related to the development of a theory of archeology. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and philosophers.

Popper and After

  • 1st Edition
  • May 20, 2014
  • D. C. Stove
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 1 - 5 7 0 1 - 6
Popper and After: Four Modern Irrationalists focuses on a tendency in the philosophy of science, of which the leading representatives are Professor Sir Karl Popper, the late Professor Imre Lakatos, and Professors T. S. Kuhn and P. K. Feyerabend. Their philosophy of science is in substance irrationalist. They doubt, or deny outright, that there can be any reason to believe any scientific theory; and a fortiori they doubt or deny, for example, that there has been any accumulation of knowledge in recent centuries. The book is composed of two parts and Part One explains how these writers succeeded in making irrationalism about science acceptable to readers. Part Two explores the intellectual influence that led these writers to embrace irrationalism about science.

Anticipatory Systems

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 1
  • October 22, 2013
  • Robert Rosen
  • G. Klir
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 8 6 2 7 - 3
The first detailed study of this most important class of systems which contain internal predictive models of themselves and/or of their environments and whose predictions are utilized for purposes of present control. This book develops the basic concept of a predictive model, and shows how it can be embedded into a system of feedforward control. Includes many examples and stresses analogies between wired-in anticipatory control and processes of learning and adaption, at both individual and social levels. Shows how the basic theory of such systems throws a new light both on analytic problems (understanding what is going on in an organism or a social system) and synthetic ones (developing forecasting methods for making individual or collective decisions).

Predictive Simplicity

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 5
  • October 22, 2013
  • George J. Klir
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 8 7 0 2 - 7
The book attempts to develop an account of simplicity in terms of testability, and to use this account to provide an adequate characterization of induction, one immune to the class of problems suggested by Nelson Goodman. It is then shown that the past success of induction, thus characterized, constitutes evidence for its future success. A qualitative measure of confirmation is developed, and this measure - along with the considerations of simplicity - is used to provide an account of the consilience of inductions, and also an inductivist account of the structure and progress of scientific theory. An appendix extends the treatment of simplicity to statistical distributions and provides a reasonable interpretation of the maximum entropy principle. Thus, this book is an attempt to characterize induction in terms of a well-defined notion of simplicity and to use that characterization as a basis of an account of empirical, and in particular, scientific reasoning.

Ethics for Graduate Researchers

  • 1st Edition
  • September 26, 2012
  • Cathriona Russell + 2 more
  • English
  • Hardback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 4 1 6 0 4 9 - 1
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 3 9 1 4 8 4 - 2
This edited collection is intended as a primer for core concepts and principles in research ethics and as an in-depth exploration of the contextualization of these principles in practice across key disciplines. The material is nested so that readers can engage with it at different levels and depths. It is unique in that it combines an analysis of complex ethical debates about the nature of research and its governance with the best of case-based and discipline-specific approaches. It deals with the following topics in depth: in the natural sciences, it explores the scientific integrity of the researcher and the research process, human cloning as a test case for the limits to research, and the emerging ethical issues in nanotechnology; in the health sciences, it takes up the question of consent, assent and proxies, research with vulnerable groups and the ethics of clinical trials; in the social sciences, it explores the issues that arise in qualitative research, interviews and ethnography; and in the humanities, it examines contested archaeologies and research in divided societies.

Ethics in Forensic Science

  • 1st Edition
  • March 20, 2012
  • J.C. Upshaw Downs + 1 more
  • English
  • Hardback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 3 8 5 0 1 9 - 5
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 3 8 5 0 2 0 - 1
This work will draw upon the expertise of the editors as authors and various contributors in order to present several different perspectives with the goal of approaching and understanding when ethical lines are crossed. In order to achieve this goal, comparisons of various canons of ethics from related fields such as medicine, law, the military, science and politics will be examined and applied. Case studies will be presented throughout to illustrate ethical dilemmas and challenge the reader with the goal of greater understanding.

Philosophy of Chemistry

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 6
  • November 1, 2011
  • Robin Findlay Hendry + 5 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 9 3 0 7 6 - 3
Philosophy of Chemistry investigates the foundational concepts and methods of chemistry, the science of the nature of substances and their transformations. This groundbreaking collection, the most thorough treatment of the philosophy of chemistry ever published, brings together philosophers, scientists and historians to map out the central topics in the field. The 33 articles address the history of the philosophy of chemistry and the philosophical importance of some central figures in the history of chemistry; the nature of chemical substances; central chemical concepts and methods, including the chemical bond, the periodic table and reaction mechanisms; and chemistry’s relationship to other disciplines such as physics, molecular biology, pharmacy and chemical engineering. This volume serves as a detailed introduction for those new to the field as well as a rich source of new insights and potential research agendas for those already engaged with the philosophy of chemistry.