Scientific nihilism : on the loss and recovery of physical explanation

著者

書誌事項

Scientific nihilism : on the loss and recovery of physical explanation

Daniel Athearn

（SUNY series in philosophy）

State University of New York Press, c1994

  • pbk

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注記

Includes bibliographical references (p. 367-380) and index

内容説明・目次

内容説明

Scientific nihilism is the widespread and ascendant view that the prospects for genuine understanding in scientific knowledge are distinctly negative. This view is especially characteristic of philosophy of science, and is reflected in a number of professional and popular doctrines. In the background is the growing perception that physical science is presently encountering the inherent limits of scientific understanding. This book shows that the breakoff of narrative causal explanation in physics, although remarkable, is no basis for the negative view of scientific knowledge. It demonstrates that radiation and field phenomena, which include a wide array of enigmatic facts, are amenable to explanation even in their most puzzling details.Athearn responds fully to the assumption that narrative causal explanation in physics has suffered a permanent demise. Rejecting the dogma of a clean bifurcation of philosophy and natural science, he proposes a constructive rehabilitation of natural philosophy.

目次

Acknowledgments PART ONE Current Outlooks in the Shadow of the Technicalization of Physics Introduction 1 The Causalist Quest in Physical Science Early Philosophical Turbulence Advanced Causalist Physics The New Era of Physics and the Reign of the Cult of Surfaces 2 "Law Explanation" Foundations of Logico-Empiricism Instrumentalism and Antirealism: Breaking the Link The "Covering Law" Model Why Theory of Explanation? 3 Philosophy and the Structure of Causation The Positivist Conception of Science Schlick's Humean Arguments Positivists on Indeterminism Hobart's Defense of Hume Is "Productionism" Anthropomorphism? Conclusions 4 Causal Realist Projects, I Composition of Causes Ontology of Latent Properties The Success of Critical Realism Causality and Forces Conclusions 5 Causal Realist Projects, II The Theory of Transmission Explanation as a Theme: A Mark of Basic Acausalism "Probabilistic" Process Conclusion PART TWO Physical Ontology Introduction 6 Radiation and Causality Enigmatic Physical Activity Empty Space Events? Causal Contour The Transition in Interaction Conclusion 7 Time, Space, and Genetic Structure Whitehead on Time and "Process" A Sense-Making Application The Ontological Shift Conclusions and Ramifications 8 Interatomic Reality Realism and Quantum Interpretation Richness of the Concept of Causality Quantum Mysteries Propagation and Spatial Representation Explanation and Causal Composition Summary and Transition 9 Absolute Causal Reference History of the Problem Whitehead's Solution Flat Transition and Structured Transition Conclusion 10 Velocity C and Emergent Extension Relativity: Theories, Models, Explanations The Nature of the Problem Furnishing the Physical Context Whitehead's Theory Conclusions Notes Index

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