Overview
- Offers a new approach to the issue of time in natural sciences: physics, biology, ecology and geology
- Examines the central question of whether or not the notions of time in the various sciences are identical and reducible to the same physical time
- Features interdisciplinary coverage that presents a dialogue between philosophy and science
Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (BSPS, volume 326)
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Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Experience of Time and the Scientific Framing of Time
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Front Matter
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Time Paradoxes in Physics
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Front Matter
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Dealing with Deep Time (Paleontology)
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Front Matter
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Time of the Evolution (Evolutionary and Developmental Biology)
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Front Matter
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Keywords
About this book
This volume addresses the question of time from the perspective of the time of nature. Its aim is to provide some insights about the nature of time on the basis of the different uses of the concept of time in natural sciences. Presenting a dialogue between philosophy and science, it features a collection of papers that investigate the representation, modeling and understanding of time as they appear in physics, biology, geology and paleontology. It asks questions such as: whether or not the notions of time in the various sciences are reducible to the same physical time, what status should be given to timescale differences, or what are the specific epistemic issues raised by past facts in natural sciences.
The book first explores the experience of time and its relation to time in nature in a set of chapters that bring together what human experience and physics enable metaphysicians, logicians and scientists to say about time. Next, it studies time in physics, including some puzzling paradoxes about time raised by the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. The volume then goes on to examine the distinctive problems and conceptions of time in the life sciences. It explores the concept of deep time in paleontology and geology, time in the epistemology of evolutionary biology, and time in developmental biology. Each scientific discipline features a specific approach to time and uses distinctive methodologies for implementing time in its models. This volume seeks to define a common language to conceive of the distinct ways different scientific disciplines view time. In the process, it offers a new approach to the issue of time that will appeal to a wide range of readers: philosophers and historians of science, metaphysicians and natural scientists - be they scholars, advanced students or readers from an educated general audience.Reviews
“This is an interdisciplinary edited collection that aims to expand the study of philosophy of time from the usual metaphysical motley crew of issues. … This book is a good place to begin this exploration.” (Dean Rickles, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 50, 2019)
“The variety of topics addressed at a high level of expertise makes one of those books that upon completion of a first reading urge one to go back and start afresh. … This is a book that both teaches and provides fertile ground for philosophical reflection; a ‘must’ for expert and student alike.” (Vassilis Sakellariou, Metascience, August, 2018)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Arial, sans-serif">Philippe Huneman is a Researcher (Directeur de recherche) at the Institut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, CNRS/Université Paris I Sorbonne. After having worked and published on the constitution of the concept of organism and Kantian metaphysics, he currently investigates philosophical issues in evolutionary theory and ecology, such as the emergence of individuality, the relations between variation and natural selection in evolutionary theory, the role of the concept of organism, and the varieties of explanations in ecology. He was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago (2005). His research has been published in Erkenntnis, Synthese, Philosophy of Science, Minds and Machines, etc. and as editor he recently published Functions: selection and mechanisms (Synthese Library, Springer, 2012), from groups to individuals. Evolution and emerging individuality (MIT Press, 2013, with Frédéric Bouchard), and Handbook of evolutionary thinking in the sciences (Springer, 2013 translation of Les Mondes Darwiniens, Paris, 2009, ed. with Heams T., Lecointre G., Silberstein M.) He belongs to the editorial board of the European Journal for Philosophy of Science and is the series coeditor of “History, Philosophy and Theory in the Life Sciences” (Springer).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Time of Nature and the Nature of Time
Book Subtitle: Philosophical Perspectives of Time in Natural Sciences
Editors: Christophe Bouton, Philippe Huneman
Series Title: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53725-2
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-53723-8Published: 08 June 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-85227-0Published: 01 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-53725-2Published: 30 May 2017
Series ISSN: 0068-0346
Series E-ISSN: 2214-7942
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 403
Number of Illustrations: 53 b/w illustrations, 29 illustrations in colour
Topics: Philosophy of Science, Epistemology