1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910390859003321

Autore

Needham Paul

Titolo

Getting to Know the World Scientifically : An Objective View / / by Paul Needham

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2020

ISBN

3-030-40216-9

Edizione

[1st ed. 2020.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 176 pages)

Collana

Synthese Library, Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, , 0166-6991 ; ; 423

Disciplina

501

Soggetti

Philosophy and science

History

Physics

Philosophy of Science

History of Science

History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Preface -- PART I: Knowledge, Objectivity and Values. Chapter 1. Knowledge -- Chapter 2. Objectivity -- Chapter 3. Relativism -- Chapter 4. The Use and Abuse of Science -- PART II: Philosophies of Science. Chapter 5. Popper: Proving the Worth of Hypotheses -- Chapter 6. Duhem’s Continuity Thesis -- Chapter 7. Realism and the Advancement of Knowledge -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

This undergraduate textbook introduces some fundamental issues in philosophy of science for students of philosophy and science students. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with knowledge and values. Chap. 1 presents the classical conception of knowledge as initiated by the ancient Greeks and elaborated during the development of science, introducing the central concepts of truth, belief and justification. Aspects of the quest for objectivity are taken up in the following two chapters. Moral issues are broached in Chap. 4, which discusses some aspects of the use and abuse of science, taking up the responsibilities of scientists in properly conducting their business and



decision-makers in their concerns with the import of science for society. Part 2 contrasts the view of scientific progress as the rejecting of old hypotheses and theories and replacing them with new ones, represented by Karl Popper, with the conception of progress as accumulating knowledge, saving as much as possible from older theories, represented by Pierre Duhem. A concluding chapter defends the natural attitude of taking the theories of modern science to be literally true, i.e. realism, in the face of arguments drawn partly from the history of scientific progress in criticism of this stance.