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About this book
An examination of the aims and philosophy of science. The author argues that while science can develop laws which reveal the structure of natural phenomena, biology is fated to be a practical, instrumental discipline, basically because of the limits in human cognition. Consequently, biology and the disciplines that rely on it must provide tools to cope with the natural world, rather than seeking to understand it in theoretical terms.
Contents
Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Biology as an Instrumental Science Chapter 2: Whatever Happened to Reductionism, and Why? Chapter 3: Reductionism and Explanation in Molecular Biology Chapter 4: Evolution, Drift, and Subjective Probability Chapter 5: Biological Instrumentalism and the Levels of Selection Chapter 6: Theories and Models, Replicators and Interactors Chapter 7: Instrumental Biology and Intentional Psychology Chapter 8: Biology and the Behavioral Sciences Bibliography Index
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