Instrumental biology, or, The disunity of science
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Instrumental biology, or, The disunity of science
（Science and its conceptual foundations）
University of Chicago Press, 1994
- : cloth
- : paper
- Other Title
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Instrumental biology
Disunity of science
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-186) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Do the sciences aim to uncover the structure of nature, or are they ultimately a practical means of controlling our environment? This work argues that while physics and chemistry can develop laws that reveal the structure of natural phenomena, biology is fated to be a practical, instrumental discipline. Because of the complexity produced by natural selection and because of the limits on human cognition, scientists are prevented from uncovering the basic structure of biological phenomena. Consequently, biology and all of the disciplines that rest upon it, such as psychology and the other human sciences, must aim to provide practical tools for coping with the natural world rather than a complete theoretical understanding of it.
Table of 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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