A Philosopher Looks at Science

Author:   Nancy Cartwright (Durham University)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9781009201889


Pages:   222
Publication Date:   30 June 2022
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable   Availability explained
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A Philosopher Looks at Science


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Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Nancy Cartwright (Durham University)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 12.90cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.290kg
ISBN:  

9781009201889


ISBN 10:   1009201883
Pages:   222
Publication Date:   30 June 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable   Availability explained
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.

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.

Reviews

'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


Author Information

Nancy Cartwright is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego. Her publications include The Dappled World: A Study of the Boundaries of Science (Cambridge, 1999), Hunting Causes and Using Them: Approaches in Philosophy and Economics (Cambridge, 2007), and Nature, the Artful Modeler (2019).

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