Reductive Explanation in the Biological Sciences

· Springer
Libro electrónico
277
Páxinas
As valoracións e as recensións non están verificadas  Máis información

Acerca deste libro electrónico

This book develops a philosophical account that reveals the major characteristics that make an explanation in the life sciences reductive and distinguish them from non-reductive explanations. Understanding what reductive explanations are enables one to assess the conditions under which reductive explanations are adequate and thus enhances debates about explanatory reductionism. The account of reductive explanation presented in this book has three major characteristics. First, it emerges from a critical reconstruction of the explanatory practice of the life sciences itself. Second, the account is monistic since it specifies one set of criteria that apply to explanations in the life sciences in general. Finally, the account is ontic in that it traces the reductivity of an explanation back to certain relations that exist between objects in the world (such as part-whole relations and level relations), rather than to the logical relations between sentences. Beginning with a disclosure of the meta-philosophical assumptions that underlie the author’s analysis of reductive explanation, the book leads into the debate about reduction(ism) in the philosophy of biology and continues with a discussion on the two perspectives on explanatory reduction that have been proposed in the philosophy of biology so far. The author scrutinizes how the issue of reduction becomes entangled with explanation and analyzes two concepts, the concept of a biological part and the concept of a level of organization. The results of these five chapters constitute the ground on which the author bases her final chapter, developing her ontic account of reductive explanation.

Valora este libro electrónico

Dános a túa opinión.

Información de lectura

Smartphones e tabletas
Instala a aplicación Google Play Libros para Android e iPad/iPhone. Sincronízase automaticamente coa túa conta e permíteche ler contido en liña ou sen conexión desde calquera lugar.
Portátiles e ordenadores de escritorio
Podes escoitar os audiolibros comprados en Google Play a través do navegador web do ordenador.
Lectores de libros electrónicos e outros dispositivos
Para ler contido en dispositivos de tinta electrónica, como os lectores de libros electrónicos Kobo, é necesario descargar un ficheiro e transferilo ao dispositivo. Sigue as instrucións detalladas do Centro de Axuda para transferir ficheiros a lectores electrónicos admitidos.