Mechanisms in science method or metaphysics?
"When we think about mechanisms there are two general issues we need to consider. The first is broadly epistemic and has to do with the understanding of nature that identifying and knowing mechanisms yields. The second is broadly metaphysical and has to do with the status of mechanisms as build...
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| Format: | UnknownFormat |
| Sprache: | eng |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Cambridge ; New York ; Port Melbourne ; New Delhi ; Singapore
Cambridge University Press
2022
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Tag hinzufügen | Zusammenfassung: | "When we think about mechanisms there are two general issues we need to consider. The first is broadly epistemic and has to do with the understanding of nature that identifying and knowing mechanisms yields. The second is broadly metaphysical and has to do with the status of mechanisms as building blocks of nature (and in particular, as fundamental constituents of causation). These two issues can be brought together under a certain assumption, which has had long historical pedigree, namely that nature is fundamentally mechanical"-- In recent years what has come to be called the 'New Mechanism' has emerged as a framework for thinking about the philosophical assumptions underlying many areas of science, especially in sciences such as biology, neuroscience, and psychology. This book offers a fresh look at the role of mechanisms, by situating novel analyses of central philosophical issues related to mechanisms within a rich historical perspective of the concept of mechanism as well as detailed case studies of biological mechanisms (such as apoptosis). It develops a new position, Methodological Mechanism, according to which mechanisms are to be viewed as causal pathways that are theoretically described and are underpinned by networks of difference-making relations. In contrast to metaphysically inflated accounts, this study characterises mechanism as a concept-in-use in science that is deflationary and metaphysically neutral, but still methodologically useful and central to scientific practice. |
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| Beschreibung: | Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Beschreibung: | xvi, 273 Seiten |
| ISBN: | 9781316519905 978-1-316-51990-5 9781009011495 978-1-00-901149-5 |