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Philosophy in Science

An Historical Introduction

  • Book
  • © 2011

Overview

Authors:
  1. Michael Heller

    1. Tarnow, Poland

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  • Focuses on the deep relationship between philosophical concepts and modern scientific theory
  • Traces the complex historical paths along which basic concepts of the natural world have evolved
  • Written by an esteemed philosopher and author, who is also the winner of the 2008 Templeton Prize
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. The First Task of the Philosophy of Nature—The Problem of Elementarity

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 1-6

  3. The Philosophical Myth of Creation—The Platonic Philosophy of Nature

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 7-15

  4. Aristotle’s Physics

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 17-29

  5. Aristotle’s Method of Cosmological Speculation

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 31-36

  6. Descartes’ Mechanism

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 37-46

  7. Isaac Newton and the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 47-60

  8. The World of Leibniz: The Best of All Possible Worlds

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 61-72

  9. Immanuel Kant: The A Priori Conditions of the Sciences

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 73-84

  10. The Romantic Philosophy of Nature

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 85-100

  11. The Cosmology of Whitehead: The Universe as Process

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 101-112

  12. Popper’s Open Universe

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 113-128

  13. Science as Philosophy

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 129-151

  14. Problems and Methods of the Philosophy of Nature

    • Michael Heller
    Pages 153-167
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Keywords

About this book

The traditional topics of the "philosophy of nature" — space, time, causality, the structure of the universe — are overwhelmingly present in our modern scientific theories. This book traces the complex paths that discussion of these topics has followed, from Plato and Aristotle, through Descartes, Leibniz, Kant and other great thinkers, right up to the relativistic cosmologies and the grand unified theories of contemporary science. In the light of this historical development, it becomes clear that modern science gives us not only a technological power over the world, but also a deeper understanding of physical reality. In this sense, science could be regarded as an heir to the traditional "philosophy of nature". Moreover, the reader will learn why science itself deserves to be the subject of philosophical reflection.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tarnow, Poland

    Michael Heller

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