Reductive Explanation in the Biological Sciences

Author:   Marie I. Kaiser
Publisher:   Springer International Publishing AG
Edition:   Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2015
Volume:   16
ISBN:  

9783319797663


Pages:   277
Publication Date:   21 March 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Reductive Explanation in the Biological Sciences


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Overview

This book develops a philosophical account that reveals the major characteristics that make an explanation in the life sciences reductive and distinguish them from non-reductive explanations. Understanding what reductive explanations are enables one to assess the conditions under which reductive explanations are adequate and thus enhances debates about explanatory reductionism. The account of reductive explanation presented in this book has three major characteristics. First, it emerges from a critical reconstruction of the explanatory practice of the life sciences itself. Second, the account is monistic since it specifies one set of criteria that apply to explanations in the life sciences in general. Finally, the account is ontic in that it traces the reductivity of an explanation back to certain relations that exist between objects in the world (such as part-whole relations and level relations), rather than to the logical relations between sentences. Beginning with a disclosure of the meta-philosophical assumptions that underlie the author’s analysis of reductive explanation, the book leads into the debate about reduction(ism) in the philosophy of biology and continues with a discussion on the two perspectives on explanatory reduction that have been proposed in the philosophy of biology so far. The author scrutinizes how the issue of reduction becomes entangled with explanation and analyzes two concepts, the concept of a biological part and the concept of a level of organization. The results of these five chapters constitute the ground on which the author bases her final chapter, developing her ontic account of reductive explanation.

Full Product Details

Author:   Marie I. Kaiser
Publisher:   Springer International Publishing AG
Imprint:   Springer International Publishing AG
Edition:   Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2015
Volume:   16
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9783319797663


ISBN 10:   3319797662
Pages:   277
Publication Date:   21 March 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Meta-philosophical Preliminaries.- Chapter 3 Drawing Lessons from the Previous Debate.- Chapter 4 Two Perspectives on Explanatory Reduction.- Chapter 5 A Closer Look at Biological Explanations.- Chapter 6 The Ontic Account of Explanatory Reduction.- Chapter 7 Conclusion.- References.

Reviews

Reductive Explanation in the Biological Sciences offers a novel philosophical perspective on explanatory reduction by fruitfully distinguishing different important characteristics explanations may have. The account also excels by offering metaphilosophical reflections on normativity in philosophy of science. (Ingo Brigandt, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, ndpr.nd.edu, August, 2016)


“Reductive Explanation in the Biological Sciences offers a novel philosophical perspective on explanatory reduction by fruitfully distinguishing different important characteristics explanations may have. The account also excels by offering metaphilosophical reflections on normativity in philosophy of science.” (Ingo Brigandt, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, ndpr.nd.edu, August, 2016)


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