Foundations of Biophilosophy

ISBN-13: 9783642082764 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 427 str.

Martin Mahner; Mario Bunge

Opis

Over the past three decades, the philosophy of biology has emerged from the shadow of the philosophy of physics to become a respectable and thriving philosophical subdiscipline. The authors take a fresh look at the life sciences and the philosophy of biology from a strictly realist and emergentist-naturalist perspective. They outline a unified and science-oriented philosophical framework that enables the clarification of many foundational and philosophical issues in biology. This book will be of interest both to life scientists and philosophers.

Recenzje

"...admirably wide coverage of the subject." Nature
"...an extremely valuable, lucid and stimulating book. The authors have set the standard of biophilosophy." Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Spis treści

I Philosophical Fundamentals.- 1 Ontological Fundamentals.- 2 Semantical and Logical Fundamentals.- 3 Epistemological Fundamentals.- II Fundamental Issues in Biophilosophy.- 4 Life.- 5 Ecology.- 6 Psychobiology.- 7 Systematics.- 8 Developmental Biology.- 9 Evolutionary Theory.- 10 Teleology.- 11 Concluding Remarks.- References.- Name Index.

O autorze

Dr. Martin Mahner ist Biologe, arbeitet jedoch seit einem längeren Forschungsaufenthalt bei Mario Bunge (1993 - 1996) vor allem im Bereich Wissenschaftstheorie der Biologie. Seine weiteren Interessen gelten der Ontologie sowie der Kritik von Religion und Pseudowissenschaft. Seit 1999 leitet er das Zentrum für Wissenschaft und kritisches Denken.

Blurb

Over the past three decades, the philosophy of biology has emerged from the shadow of the philosophy of physics to become a respectable and thriving philosophical subdiscipline. In their book, the authors take a fresh look at the life sciences and their philosophy from a strictly realist and emergentist-naturalist perspective. They outline a unified and science-oriented philosophical framework that enables them to clarify many foundational and philosophical issues in biology. Thus, this book should be of interest to both life scientists and philosophers and is suitable as a textbook for courses at the advanced levels as well as for independent study.