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Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science. This discipline overlaps with metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, for example, when it explores the relationship between science and truth. Philosophy of science focuses on metaphysical, epistemic and semantic aspects of science. Ethical issues such as bioethics and scientific misconduct are often considered ethics or science studies rather than the philosophy of science.
Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical position that interprets a complex system as the sum of its parts.
Paul Karl Feyerabend was an Austrian philosopher best known for his work in the philosophy of science. He started his academic career as lecturer in the philosophy of science at the University of Bristol (1955–1958); afterwards, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for three decades (1958–1989). At various points in his life, he held joint appointments at the University College London (1967–1970), the London School of Economics (1967), the FU Berlin (1968), Yale University (1969), the University of Auckland, the University of Sussex (1974), and, finally, the ETH Zurich (1980–1990). He gave lectures and lecture series at the University of Minnesota (1958-1962), Stanford University (1967), the University of Kassel (1977) and the University of Trento (1992).
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Philosophy of psychology is concerned with the history and foundations of psychology. It deals with both epistemological and ontological issues and shares interests with other fields, including philosophy of mind and theoretical psychology. Philosophical and theoretical psychology are intimately tied and are therefore sometimes used interchangeably or used together. However, philosophy of psychology relies more on debates general to philosophy and on philosophical methods, whereas theoretical psychology draws on multiple areas.
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Antireductionism is the position in science and metaphysics that stands in contrast to reductionism (anti-holism) by advocating that not all properties of a system can be explained in terms of its constituent parts and their interactions.
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Pluralism in general denotes a diversity of views or stands, rather than a single approach or method.
Scientific pluralism is a position within the philosophy of science that rejects various proposed unities of scientific method and subject matter. Scientific pluralists hold that science is not unified in one or more of the following ways: the metaphysics of its subject matter, the epistemology of scientific knowledge, or the research methods and models that should be used. Some pluralists believe that pluralism is necessary due to the nature of science. Others say that since scientific disciplines already vary in practice, there is no reason to believe this variation is wrong until a specific unification is empirically proven. Finally, some hold that pluralism should be allowed for normative reasons, even if unity were possible in theory.
Structuralism is a theory in the philosophy of mathematics that holds that mathematical theories describe structures of mathematical objects. Mathematical objects are exhaustively defined by their place in such structures. Consequently, structuralism maintains that mathematical objects do not possess any intrinsic properties but are defined by their external relations in a system. For instance, structuralism holds that the number 1 is exhaustively defined by being the successor of 0 in the structure of the theory of natural numbers. By generalization of this example, any natural number is defined by its respective place in that theory. Other examples of mathematical objects might include lines and planes in geometry, or elements and operations in abstract algebra.
C. Kenneth Waters holds the Canada Research Chair in Logic and the Philosophy of Science and is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Calgary, where he specializes in philosophy of biology.
References
- 1 2 3 Stephen H Kellert; Helen E Longino; C Kenneth Waters (2006). "Introduction: The pluralist stance" (PDF). Scientific pluralism; volume XIX in Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science. The University of Minnesota Press. p. vii. ISBN 978-0-8166-4763-7.
- ↑ Jonathan Schaffer (2009). "Chapter 12: On what grounds what" (PDF). In David Chalmers; David Manley; Ryan Wasserman (eds.). Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology. Oxford University Press. pp. 57–83. ISBN 978-0199546046.
Metaphysics so revived does not bother asking whether properties, meanings, and numbers exist. Of course they do! The question is whether or not they are fundamental.
- ↑ Martin Gardner (December 2005). "Science in the looking glass: What do scientists really know? (a book review)" (PDF). Notices of the American Mathematical Society. pp. 1344 ff.
No modern realist believes for a moment that numbers and theorems "exist" in the same way that stones and stars exist. Of course mathematical concepts are mental constructs and products of human culture.
- ↑ Joshua Spencer (November 12, 2012). "Ways of being". Philosophy Compass. 7 (12): 910–918. doi:10.1111/j.1747-9991.2012.00527.x.
There are numbers, fictional characters, impossible things, and holes. But, we don't think these things all exist in the same sense as cars and human beings.
- ↑ E Brian Davies (2006). "Epistemological pluralism". Available through PhilSci Archive.
- ↑ There is ongoing controversy over the application of neuroscience to psychology. For example, Talvitie and Ihanus say: "As far as psychoanalytic explanations refer to the mental unconscious, they cannot be verified with the help of neuroscience. Neither is it possible to form a picture of how a neuro-viewpoint might be of help for psychoanalytic theorizing." Talvitie, Vesa; Ihanus, Juhani (2011). "On neuropsychoanalytic metaphysics". The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. 92 (6): 1583–1601. doi:10.1111/j.1745-8315.2011.00458.x. PMID 22212043. S2CID 205910970. and Edleson: "It is also contended that the theories of psychoanalysis cannot be logically derivable from the theories of neuroscience, physics, or chemistry" "The convergence of psychoanalysis and neuroscience: Illusion and reality".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ↑ Geoffrey Hellman; John L Bell (2006). "Chapter 4: Pluralism and the foundation of mathematics" (PDF). In Stephen H Kellert; Helen E Longino; C Kenneth Waters (eds.). Scientific pluralism; volume XIX in Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science. The University of Minnesota Press. pp. 64 ff. ISBN 978-0-8166-4763-7.
- ↑ Esther-Mirjam Sent (2006). "Chapter 5: Pluralism in economics" (PDF). In Stephen H Kellert; Helen E Longino; C Kenneth Waters (eds.). Scientific pluralism; volume XIX in Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science. The University of Minnesota Press. pp. 80 ff. ISBN 978-0-8166-4763-7.
