The New Mechanical Philosophy

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Science & Nature, Science
Cover of the book The New Mechanical Philosophy by Stuart Glennan, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Stuart Glennan ISBN: 9780191085291
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: August 4, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Stuart Glennan
ISBN: 9780191085291
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: August 4, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

The New Mechanical Philosophy argues for a new image of nature and of science—one that understands both natural and social phenomena to be the product of mechanisms, and that casts the work of science as an effort to discover and understand those mechanisms. Drawing on an expanding literature on mechanisms in physical, life, and social sciences, Stuart Glennan offers an account of the nature of mechanisms and of the models used to represent them. A key quality of mechanisms is that they are particulars - located at different places and times, with no one just like another. The crux of the scientist's challenge is to balance the complexity and particularity of mechanisms with our need for representations of them that are abstract and general. This volume weaves together metaphysical and methodological questions about mechanisms. Metaphysically, it explores the implications of the mechanistic framework for our understanding of classical philosophical questions about the nature of objects, properties, processes, events, causal relations, natural kinds and laws of nature. Methodologically, the book explores how scientists build models to represent and understand phenomena and the mechanisms responsible for them. Using this account of representation, Glennan offers a scheme for characterizing the enormous diversity of things that scientists call mechanisms, and explores the scope and limits of mechanistic explanation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The New Mechanical Philosophy argues for a new image of nature and of science—one that understands both natural and social phenomena to be the product of mechanisms, and that casts the work of science as an effort to discover and understand those mechanisms. Drawing on an expanding literature on mechanisms in physical, life, and social sciences, Stuart Glennan offers an account of the nature of mechanisms and of the models used to represent them. A key quality of mechanisms is that they are particulars - located at different places and times, with no one just like another. The crux of the scientist's challenge is to balance the complexity and particularity of mechanisms with our need for representations of them that are abstract and general. This volume weaves together metaphysical and methodological questions about mechanisms. Metaphysically, it explores the implications of the mechanistic framework for our understanding of classical philosophical questions about the nature of objects, properties, processes, events, causal relations, natural kinds and laws of nature. Methodologically, the book explores how scientists build models to represent and understand phenomena and the mechanisms responsible for them. Using this account of representation, Glennan offers a scheme for characterizing the enormous diversity of things that scientists call mechanisms, and explores the scope and limits of mechanistic explanation.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Transnational Commercial Law by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Scents and Sensibility by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Urban Ecology by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Collective Investment Schemes in Luxembourg by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Localized Law by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Lots of Fun at Finnegans Wake by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Essays in Collective Epistemology by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Constituting Economic and Social Rights by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book A Day in the Country and Other Stories by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book International Environmental Law, Policy, and Ethics by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Hugo Grotius and the Century of Revolution, 1613-1718 by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book The Postcolonial Enlightenment by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Words in Time and Place by Stuart Glennan
Cover of the book Aristotle in Aquinas's Theology by Stuart Glennan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy