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Author:   P. Kyle Stanford (Assistant Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, Assistant Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of California, Irvine)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.358kg
ISBN:  

9780199751532

ISBN 10:   0199751536
Pages:   248
Publication Date:   29 April 2010
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

"1. Realism, Pessimism, and Underdetermination 1.1 Scientific Realism: What's at Stake? 1.2 Problems for Pessimism and Underdetermination 1.3 Recurrent, Transient Underdetermination, and a New Induction over the History of Science 2. Chasing Duhem: The Problem of Unconceived Alternatives 2.1 Duhem's Worry: Eliminative Inferences and the Problem of Unconceived Alternatives 2.2 Confirmation: Holism, Eliminative Induction, and Bayesianism 2.3 Pessimism Revisited 3. Darwin and Pangenesis: The Search for the Material Basis of Generation and Heredity 3.1 Preliminary Worries 3.2 Pangenesis: Darwin's ""Mad Dream"" and ""Beloved Child"" 3.3 Darwin's Failure to Grasp Galton's Common Cause Mechanism for Inheritance 4. Galton and the Strip Theory 4.1 The Transfusion Experiments: ""A Dreadful Disappointment to Them Both"" 4.2 Galton's Strip Theory and Its Maturational, Invariant Conception of Inheritance 4.3 Galton's Understanding of ""Correlation"" and ""Variable Influences"" in Development 5. August Weismann's Theory of the Germ-Plasm 5.1 German Biology at the End of the Nineteenth Century and Weismann's Theory of the Germ-Plasm 5.2 Germinal Specificity, the Search for a Mechanism of Cellular Differentiation and the Reservation of the Germ-Plasm 5.4 Productive and Expendable Germinal Resources 5.5 Conclusion: Lessons from History 6. History Revisited: Pyrrhic Victories for Scientific Realism 6.1 Realist Responses to the Historical Record 6.2 Once More into the Breach: The Pessimistic Induction 6.3 Reference without Descriptive Accuracy 6.4 Diluting Approximate Truth 7. Selective Confirmation and the Historical Record: ""Another Such Victory over the Romans""? 7.1 Realism, Selective Confirmation, and Retrospective Judgments of Idleness 7.2 Theoretical Posits: They Work Hard for the Money 7.3 Trust and Betrayal 7.4 Structural Realism and Retention 7.5 Selective Confirmation: No Refuge for Realism 8. Science without Realism? References Index"

Reviews

The argument is extremely clear, detailed, and thorough. It doesn't try to be a textbook, and is aimed squarely at professional philosophers and advanced students in philosophy of science. --Metaphilosophy Stanford has genuinely advanced the philosophical discussion about scientific realism with his careful articulation of the problem of unconceived alternatives. -- The Review of Metaphysics Stanford's book deserves to be widely read. Its central argument is clearly stated, its conclusion is radical, it engages in a productive fashion with detailed case studies, and it lays down several substantial challenges to scientific realism. Lastly, it is consistently thought-provoking. --Science

<br> The argument is extremely clear, detailed, and thorough. It doesn't try to be a textbook, and is aimed squarely at professional philosophers and advanced students in philosophy of science. --Metaphilosophy<p><br> Stanford has genuinely advanced the philosophical discussion about scientific realism with his careful articulation of the problem of unconceived alternatives. -- The Review of Metaphysics <br><p><br> Stanford's book deserves to be widely read. Its central argument is clearly stated, its conclusion is radical, it engages in a productive fashion with detailed case studies, and it lays down several substantial challenges to scientific realism. Lastly, it is consistently thought-provoking. --Science <br><p><br>

<br> The argument is extremely clear, detailed, and thorough. It doesn't try to be a textbook, and is aimed squarely at professional philosophers and advanced students in philosophy of science. --Metaphilosophy<br> Stanford has genuinely advanced the philosophical discussion about scientific realism with his careful articulation of the problem of unconceived alternatives. -- The Review of Metaphysics <br><br> Stanford's book deserves to be widely read. Its central argument is clearly stated, its conclusion is radical, it engages in a productive fashion with detailed case studies, and it lays down several substantial challenges to scientific realism. Lastly, it is consistently thought-provoking. --Science <br><br>

The argument is extremely clear, detailed, and thorough. It doesn't try to be a textbook, and is aimed squarely at professional philosophers and advanced students in philosophy of science. * Metaphilosophy *

Author Information

Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of California, Irvine

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