Overview
With this defense of intensional realism as a philosophical foundation for understanding scientific procedures and grounding scientific knowledge, James Fetzer provides a systematic alternative to much of recent work on scientific theory. To Fetzer, the current state of understanding the 'laws' of nature, or the 'law-like' statements of scientific theories, appears to be one of philosophical defeat; and he is determined to overcome that defeat. Based upon his incisive advocacy of the single-case propensity interpretation of probability, Fetzer develops a coherent structure within which the central problems of the philosophy of science find their solutions. Whether the reader accepts the author's contentions may, in the end, depend upon ancient choices in the interpretation of experience and explanation, but there can be little doubt of Fetzer's spirited competence in arguing for setting ontology before epistemology, and within the analysis of language. To us, Fetzer's ambition is appealing, fusing, as he says, the substantive commitment of the Popperian with the conscientious sensitivity of the Hempelian to the technical precision required for justified explication. To Fetzer, science is the objective pursuit of fallible general knowledge. This innocent character ization, which we suppose most scientists would welcome, receives a most careful elaboration in this book; it will demand equally careful critical con sideration. Center for the Philosophy and ROBERT S. COHEN History of Science, MARX W. WARTOFSKY Boston University October 1981 v TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL PREFACE v FOREWORD xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xv PART I: CAUSATION 1.
Full Product Details
Author: J.H. Fetzer
Publisher: Springer
Imprint: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Edition: 1981 ed.
Volume: 69
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 1.430kg
ISBN: 9789027713353
ISBN 10: 9027713359
Pages: 339
Publication Date: 31 December 1981
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
'...an outstanding success within its genre ... no other approach is currently better positioned to attain Al's theoretical goals, to support its technological aims, or to secure its thorough justification as a genuine science.' Al Magazine
`...an outstanding success within its genre ... no other approach is currently better positioned to attain Al's theoretical goals, to support its technological aims, or to secure its thorough justification as a genuine science.' Al Magazine
...an outstanding success within its genre ... no other approach is currently better positioned to attain Al's theoretical goals, to support its technological aims, or to secure its thorough justification as a genuine science.' Al Magazine
