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11-20 of 25 results in All results

Philosophy of Statistics

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 7
  • May 31, 2011
  • Dov M. Gabbay + 4 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 9 3 0 9 6 - 1
Statisticians and philosophers of science have many common interests but restricted communication with each other. This volume aims to remedy these shortcomings. It provides state-of-the-art research in the area of philosophy of statistics by encouraging numerous experts to communicate with one another without feeling “restricted” by their disciplines or thinking “piecemeal” in their treatment of issues. A second goal of this book is to present work in the field without bias toward any particular statistical paradigm. Broadly speaking, the essays in this Handbook are concerned with problems of induction, statistics and probability. For centuries, foundational problems like induction have been among philosophers’ favorite topics; recently, however, non-philosophers have increasingly taken a keen interest in these issues. This volume accordingly contains papers by both philosophers and non-philosophers, including scholars from nine academic disciplines.

Philosophy of Complex Systems

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 10
  • May 4, 2011
  • Cliff A. Hooker + 3 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 9 3 1 2 2 - 7
The domain of nonlinear dynamical systems and its mathematical underpinnings has been developing exponentially for a century, the last 35 years seeing an outpouring of new ideas and applications and a concomitant confluence with ideas of complex systems and their applications from irreversible thermodynamics. A few examples are in meteorology, ecological dynamics, and social and economic dynamics. These new ideas have profound implications for our understanding and practice in domains involving complexity, predictability and determinism, equilibrium, control, planning, individuality, responsibility and so on.Our intention is to draw together in this volume, we believe for the first time, a comprehensive picture of the manifold philosophically interesting impacts of recent developments in understanding nonlinear systems and the unique aspects of their complexity. The book will focus specifically on the philosophical concepts, principles, judgments and problems distinctly raised by work in the domain of complex nonlinear dynamical systems, especially in recent years.

Philosophy of Mathematics

  • 1st Edition
  • June 11, 2009
  • Andrew Irvine + 3 more
  • English
  • Hardback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 4 - 5 1 5 5 5 - 1
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 9 3 0 5 8 - 9
One of the most striking features of mathematics is the fact that we are much more certain about the mathematical knowledge we have than about what mathematical knowledge is knowledge of. Are numbers, sets, functions and groups physical entities of some kind? Are they objectively existing objects in some non-physical, mathematical realm? Are they ideas that are present only in the mind? Or do mathematical truths not involve referents of any kind? It is these kinds of questions that have encouraged philosophers and mathematicians alike to focus their attention on issues in the philosophy of mathematics. Over the centuries a number of reasonably well-defined positions about the nature of mathematics have been developed and it is these positions (both historical and current) that are surveyed in the current volume. Traditional theories (Platonism, Aristotelianism, Kantianism), as well as dominant modern theories (logicism, formalism, constructivism, fictionalism, etc.), are all analyzed and evaluated. Leading-edge research in related fields (set theory, computability theory, probability theory, paraconsistency) is also discussed. The result is a handbook that not only provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments but that also serves as an indispensable resource for anyone wanting to learn about current developments in the philosophy of mathematics.

Philosophy of Information

  • 1st Edition
  • November 10, 2008
  • Pieter Adriaans + 4 more
  • English
  • Hardback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 4 - 5 1 7 2 6 - 5
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 9 3 0 8 4 - 8
Information is a recognized fundamental notion across the sciences and humanities, which is crucial to understanding physical computation, communication, and human cognition. The Philosophy of Information brings together the most important perspectives on information. It includes major technical approaches, while also setting out the historical backgrounds of information as well as its contemporary role in many academic fields. Also, special unifying topics are high-lighted that play across many fields, while we also aim at identifying relevant themes for philosophical reflection. There is no established area yet of Philosophy of Information, and this Handbook can help shape one, making sure it is well grounded in scientific expertise. As a side benefit, a book like this can facilitate contacts and collaboration among diverse academic milieus sharing a common interest in information.

Erasmi Opera Omnia, V-6

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 6
  • July 16, 2008
  • A.G. Weiler + 1 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 9 3 2 2 4 - 8
A volume of the Opera Omnia of Erasmus series, this title is comprised of two separate treatise translated into one volume. First, The Institution of Christian Matrimony (Basel, 1526) which was dedicated to Catherine of Aragon. In this work, Erasmus deals with the religious, moral and physical aspects of marriage, also discussing Canon law. Conservative theologians challenged in particular his liberal views on divorce. The second treatise, On the Christian Widow, was published in 1529, and in it Erasmus discusses not only Christian widowhood, but also virginity and marriage, dealing also with the education of women.

General Philosophy of Science: Focal Issues

  • 1st Edition
  • July 18, 2007
  • Theo A.F. Kuipers + 3 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 5 4 8 5 4 - 8
Scientists use concepts and principles that are partly specific for their subject matter, but they also share part of them with colleagues working in different fields. Compare the biological notion of a 'natural kind' with the general notion of 'confirmation' of a hypothesis by certain evidence. Or compare the physical principle of the 'conservation of energy' and the general principle of 'the unity of science'. Scientists agree that all such notions and principles aren't as crystal clear as one might wish. An important task of the philosophy of the special sciences, such as philosophy of physics, of biology and of economics, to mention only a few of the many flourishing examples, is the clarification of such subject specific concepts and principles. Similarly, an important task of 'general' philosophy of science is the clarification of concepts like 'confirmation' and principles like 'the unity of science'. It is evident that clarfication of concepts and principles only makes sense if one tries to do justice, as much as possible, to the actual use of these notions by scientists, without however following this use slavishly. That is, occasionally a philosopher may have good reasons for suggesting to scientists that they should deviate from a standard use. Frequently, this amounts to a plea for differentiation in order to stop debates at cross-purposes due to the conflation of different meanings. While the special volumes of the series of Handbooks of the Philosophy of Science address topics relative to a specific discipline, this general volume deals with focal issues of a general nature. After an editorial introduction about the dominant method of clarifying concepts and principles in philosophy of science, called explication, the first five chapters deal with the following subjects. Laws, theories, and research programs as units of empirical knowledge (Theo Kuipers), various past and contemporary perspectives on explanation (Stathis Psillos), the evaluation of theories in terms of their virtues (Ilkka Niiniluto), and the role of experiments in the natural sciences, notably physics and biology (Allan Franklin), and their role in the social sciences, notably economics (Wenceslao Gonzalez). In the subsequent three chapters there is even more attention to various positions and methods that philosophers of science and scientists may favor: ontological, epistemological, and methodological positions (James Ladyman), reduction, integration, and the unity of science as aims in the sciences and the humanities (William Bechtel and Andrew Hamilton), and logical, historical and computational approaches to the philosophy of science (Atocha Aliseda and Donald Gillies).The volume concludes with the much debated question of demarcating science from nonscience (Martin Mahner) and the rich European-American history of the philosophy of science in the 20th century (Friedrich Stadler).

Philosophy of Biology

  • 1st Edition
  • February 5, 2007
  • Mohan Matthen + 4 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 4 7 1 2 4 - 2
Philosophy of Biology is a rapidly expanding field. It is concerned with explanatory concepts in evolution, genetics, and ecology. This collection of 25 essays by leading researchers provides an overview of the state of the field. These essays are wholly new; none of them could have been written even ten years ago. They demonstrate how philosophical analysis has been able to contribute to sometimes contested areas of scientific theory making.

Philosophy of Logic

  • 1st Edition
  • November 29, 2006
  • Dov M. Gabbay + 3 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 4 6 6 6 3 - 7
The papers presented in this volume examine topics of central interest in contemporary philosophy of logic. They include reflections on the nature of logic and its relevance for philosophy today, and explore in depth developments in informal logic and the relation of informal to symbolic logic, mathematical metatheory and the limiting metatheorems, modal logic, many-valued logic, relevance and paraconsistent logic, free logics, extensional v. intensional logics, the logic of fiction, epistemic logic, formal logical and semantic paradoxes, the concept of truth, the formal theory of entailment, objectual and substitutional interpretation of the quantifiers, infinity and domain constraints, the Löwenheim-Skolem theorem and Skolem paradox, vagueness, modal realism v. actualism, counterfactuals and the logic of causation, applications of logic and mathematics to the physical sciences, logically possible worlds and counterpart semantics, and the legacy of Hilbert’s program and logicism. The handbook is meant to be both a compendium of new work in symbolic logic and an authoritative resource for students and researchers, a book to be consulted for specific information about recent developments in logic and to be read with pleasure for its technical acumen and philosophical insights.

Philosophy of Anthropology and Sociology

  • 1st Edition
  • October 27, 2006
  • Stephen P. Turner + 4 more
  • English
  • Hardback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 4 - 5 1 5 4 2 - 1
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 4 6 6 6 4 - 4
This volume concerns philosophical issues that arise from the practice of anthropology and sociology. The essays cover a wide range of issues, including traditional questions in the philosophy of social science as well as those specific to these disciplines. Authors attend to the historical development of the current debates and set the stage for future work.

Morality in Context

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 137
  • July 25, 2005
  • Wolfgang Edelstein + 1 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 4 5 6 9 7 - 3
Morality in context is a timely topic. A debate between philosophers and social scientists is a good way to approach it. Why is there such a booming interest in morality and why does it focus on context? One starting point is the change in the sociostructural and sociocultural conditions of modern societies. This involves change in the empirical conditions of moral action and in the social demand on morality. As these changes are accounted for and analyzed in the social sciences, new perspectives emerge that give rise to new ways of framing issues and problems. These problems are best addressed by way of cooperation between philosophers and social scientists. As Habermas (1990) has pointed out in a much cited paper, philosophers depend on social science to fill in the data they require to answer the questions raised by philosophy in its "placeholder" function. The reverse also holds true: Social science needs the conceptual clarifications that philosophy can provide. With respect to morality, such mutual interchanges are of particular importance the contributions to this book show convincingly.