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Covers the state of the art in the philosophy of maths and logic, giving the reader an overview of the major problems, positions, and battle lines. The chapters in this book contain both exposition and criticism as well as substantial development of their own positions. It also includes a bibliography.
This collection of original essays aims to inquire into the diversity of Generality. Through case studies taken from the history of mathematics, physics and the life sciences, the book provides evidence of different ways of understanding the general in various contexts.
This authoritative reference work covers all aspects of logic, from its philosophical foundations to its technical applications in computer science. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of this important subject. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Metaphysics in science / Richard Healey -- Models and theories / Margaret Morrison -- Natural kinds / Muhammad Ali Khalidi -- Probability / Antony Eagle -- Representation in science / Mauricio Suarez -- Reduction / Andreas Huttemann and Alan C. Love -- Science and non-science / Sven Ove Hansson -- Scientific concepts / Hyundeuk Cheon and Edouard Machery -- Scientific explanation / Bradford Skow -- Scientific progress / Alexander Bird -- Scientific realism / Timothy D. Lyons -- Scientific theories / Hans Halvorson -- Values in science / Heather Douglas -- Part III. New directions. After Kuhn / Philip Kitcher -- Astronomy and astrophysics / Sibylle Anderl -- Challenges to evolutionary theory / Denis Walsh -- Complexity theory / Michael Strevens -- Computer simulation / Johannes Lenhard -- Data / Aidan Lyon -- Emergence / Paul Humphreys -- Empiricism and after / Jim Bogen -- Mechanisms and mechanical philosophy / Stuart Glennan -- Philosophy and cosmology / Claus Beisbart --
Since the middle of the 20th century Ludwig Wittgenstein has been an exceptionally influential and controversial figure wherever philosophy is studied. This is a comprehensive volume on Wittgenstein where 35 scholars explore the whole range of his thought, offering critical engagement and original interpretation.
Probability theory is a key tool of the physical, mathematical, and social sciences. It has also been playing an increasingly significant role in philosophy: in epistemology, philosophy of science, ethics, social philosophy, philosophy of religion, and elsewhere. A case can be made thatprobability is as vital a part of the philosopher's toolkit as logic. Moreover, there is a fruitful two-way street between probability theory and philosophy: the theory informs much of the work of philosophers, and philosophical inquiry, in turn, has shed considerable light on the theory. ThisHandbook encapsulates and furthers the influence of philosophy on probability, and of probability on philosophy. Nearly forty articles summarise the state of play and present new insights in various areas of research at the intersection of these two fields. The articles will be of special interestto practitioners of probability who seek a greater understanding of its mathematical and conceptual foundations, and to philosophers who want to get up to speed on the cutting edge of research in this area. There is plenty here to entice philosophical readers who don't work especially on probabilitybut who want to learn more about it and its applications. Indeed, this volume should appeal to the intellectually curious generally; after all, there is much here to be curious about. We do not expect all of this volume's audience to have a thorough training in probability theory. And whileprobability is relevant to the work of many philosophers, they often do not have much of a background in its formalism. With this in mind, we begin with 'Probability for Everyone--Even Philosophers', a primer on those parts of probability theory that we believe are most important for philosophers toknow. The rest of the volume is divided into seven main sections: History; Formalism; Alternatives to Standard Probability Theory; Interpretations and Interpretive Issues; Probabilistic Judgment and Its Applications; Applications of Probability: Science; and Applications of Probability:Philosophy.
This is a comprehensive book on philosophical methodology. A team of leading philosophers present original essays on various aspects of how philosophy should be and is done. They explore broad traditions and approaches, topics in philosophical methodology, and the interconnections between philosophy and neighbouring fields.
Cheryl Misak presents the first collective study of the development of philosophy in North America, from the 18th century to the end of the 20th century. Twenty-six leading experts examine distinctive features of American philosophy, trace notable themes, and consider the legacy and influence of notable figures. This will be the first reference point for future work on the subject, and a fascinating resource for anyone interested in modern philosophy or American intellectual history.
It is with great pleasure that we are presenting to the community the second edition of this extraordinary handbook. It has been over 15 years since the publication of the first edition and there have been great changes in the landscape of philosophical logic since then. The first edition has proved invaluable to generations of students and researchers in formal philosophy and language, as well as to consumers of logic in many applied areas. The main logic article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1999 has described the first edition as 'the best starting point for exploring any of the topics in logic'. We are confident that the second edition will prove to be just as good,! The first edition was the second handbook published for the logic commu nity. It followed the North Holland one volume Handbook of Mathematical Logic, published in 1977, edited by the late Jon Barwise. The four volume Handbook of Philosophical Logic, published 1983-1989 came at a fortunate temporal junction at the evolution of logic. This was the time when logic was gaining ground in computer science and artificial intelligence circles. These areas were under increasing commercial pressure to provide devices which help and/or replace the human in his daily activity. This pressure required the use of logic in the modelling of human activity and organisa tion on the one hand and to provide the theoretical basis for the computer program constructs on the other.
