Instrumental Biology, or the Disunity of Science

Series: Science and its Conceptual Foundations Series

By: A Rosenberg

184 pages

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Instrumental Biology, or the Disunity of Science

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ISBN: 9780226727264 Paperback Aug 1994 Out of stock with supplier: order now to get this when available
£29.99
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ISBN: 9780226727257 Hardback Sep 1994 Out of stock with supplier: order now to get this when available
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#35251

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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.

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