The Process of Science

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIII

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2. Method in the Philosophy of Science and Epistemology

   • Dudley Shapere

   Pages 1-39

3. ’Twixt Method and Madness

   • Thomas Nickles

   Pages 41-67

4. Historical Realism and Contextual Objectivity: A Developing Perspective in the Philosophy of Science

   • Marjorie Grene

   Pages 69-81

5. Research Problems and the Understanding of Science

   • William Berkson

   Pages 83-93

6. Twenty Years After

   • Joseph Agassi

   Pages 95-103

7. The Semantic Approach to Scientific Theories

   • Bas C. Van Fraassen

   Pages 105-124

8. The Garden in the machine: Gender relations, the Processes of Science, and Feminist Epistemological Strategies

   • Sandra Harding

   Pages 125-137

9. The Cognitive Study of Science

   • Ronald N. Giere

   Pages 139-159

10. A Cognitive-Historical Approach to Meaning in Scientific Theories

    • Nancy J. Nersessian

    Pages 161-177

11. Naturalizing Observation

    • Harold I. Brown

    Pages 179-193

12. Realist Methodology in Contemporary Genetics

    • Richard M. Burian

    Pages 195-210

13. Parsimony and the Units of Selection

    • Elliott Sober

    Pages 211-219

14. Back Matter

    Pages 221-221

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For some time now the philosophy of science has been undergoing a major transfor­ mation. It began when the 'received view' of scientific knowledge -that developed by logical positivists and their intellectual descendants - was challenged as bearing little resemblance to and having little relevance for the understanding of real science. Subsequently, an overwhelming amount of criticism has been added. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would support the 'received view' today. Yet, in the search for a new analysis of scientific knowledge, this view continues to exert influence over the tenor of much of present-day philosophy of science; in particular, over its problems and its methods of analysis. There has, however, emerged an area within the discipline - called by some the 'new philosophy of science' - that has been engaged in transforming the problems and methods of philosophy of science. While there is far from a consensus of beliefs in this area, most of the following contentions would be affirmed by those working in it: - that science is an open-ended, on-going activity, whose character has changed significantly during its history - that science is not a monolithic enterprise - that good science can lead to false theories - that science has its roots in everyday circumstances, needs, methods, concepts, etc.

• objectivity
• philosophy of science
• realism
• science
• scientific practice

` .. this volume will make a significant contribution to a more adequate understanding of the "nature of scientific knowledge and inquiry" '
ISIS Vol.79,No.1,1988

• Dept. of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA

  Nancy J. Nersessian

Policies and ethics