Special Sciences and the Unity of Science

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

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2. Introduction

   • Olga Pombo, Juan Manuel Torres, John Symons, Shahid Rahman

   Pages 1-3

3. Pragmatic Continuities in Empirical Science: Some Examples from the History of Astronomy

   • María de la Concepción Caamaño Alegre

   Pages 5-18

4. The Principle of Eurhythmy: A Key to the Unity of Physics

   • J. R. Croca

   Pages 19-51

5. Unifying Science Through Computation: Reflections on Computability and Physics

   • Edwin J. Beggs, José Félix Costa, John V. Tucker

   Pages 53-80

6. Looking at Water Through Paradigms

   • A. Perera, F. Sokolić

   Pages 81-87

7. Introducing Universal Symbiogenesis

   • Nathalie Gontier

   Pages 89-111

8. The Symbiotic Phenomenon in the Evolutive Context

   • Francisco Carrapiço

   Pages 113-119

9. Plant Neurobiology: Lessons for the Unity of Science

   • Paco Calvo Garzón

   Pages 121-136

10. Computer Science Meets Evolutionary Biology: Pure Possible Processes and the Issue of Gradualism

    • Philippe Huneman

    Pages 137-162

11. Evolutionary Psychology and the Unity of Sciences: Towards an Evolutionary Epistemology

    • Luís Moniz Pereira

    Pages 163-175

12. Unity of Science and Pluralism: Cognitive Neurosciences of Racial Prejudice as a Case Study

    • Luc Faucher

    Pages 177-204

13. Sciences as Open Systems – The Case of Economics

    • Vítor Neves

    Pages 205-217

14. Plurality of Science and Rational Integration of Knowledge

    • Catherine Laurent

    Pages 219-231

15. A Physicalist Reconstruction of a Theory: The Case of the Freudian Theory of Hysteria

    • César Lorenzano

    Pages 233-257

16. The Cultural Sciences and Their Basis in Life. On Ernst Cassirer’s Theory of the Cultural Sciences

    • Christian Möckel

    Pages 259-267

17. Appearance or Existence of the Entity Realism ‘Sense’ or Mind

    • A. Yazdani

    Pages 269-276

18. Fiction, Counterfactuals: The Challenge for Logic

    • Brian Hill

    Pages 277-299

Science is a dynamic process in which the assimilation of new phenomena, perspectives, and hypotheses into the scientific corpus takes place slowly. The apparent disunity of the sciences is the unavoidable consequence of this gradual integration process. Some thinkers label this dynamical circumstance a ‘crisis’. However, a retrospective view of the practical results of the scientific enterprise and of science itself, grants us a clear view of the unity of the human knowledge seeking enterprise. This book provides many arguments, case studies and examples in favor of the unity of science. These contributions touch upon various scientific perspectives and disciplines such as: Physics, Computer Science, Biology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, and Economics.

• Disunity of Science
• Scence Unification
• Scientific Specialization
• Special Sciences
• Unity of Science
• Unity of Special Sciences

From the reviews:

“The volume at hand … covers a wide range of special sciences from astronomy and physics to Freudian theory and the cultural sciences. … essays collected in this volume are of interest to philosophers working in these areas. The approach taken in this book fits within the broader context of bringing fresh ideas to an old debate. … The papers contain an interesting balance between scientific depth and philosophical speculation on how the unity of the sciences might work in some actual cases … .” (Hinne Hettema, Philosophy in Review, Vol. XXXIII (4), 2013)

• Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

  Olga Pombo

• Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

  Juan Manuel Torres

• Department of Philosophy, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, USA

  John Symons

• , UFR Philosophie/ UMR-STL: 8163, Université de Lille, Villeneuve d'Asque, France

  Shahid Rahman

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