The purpose of this Introduction is to sketch our approach to the study of value, morality and action, and to show the place we assign it in the system of human knowledge. 1. VALUE, MORALITY AND ACTION: FACT, THEORY, AND METATHEORY We take it that all animals evaluate some things and some processes, and that some of them learn the social behavior patterns we call 'moral principles', and even act according to them at least some of the time. An animal incapable of evaluating anything would be very short-lived; and a social animal that did not observe the accepted social behavior patterns would...
The purpose of this Introduction is to sketch our approach to the study of value, morality and action, and to show the place we assign it in the syste...
Most social scientists and philosophers claim that sociology and philosophy are disjoint fields of inquiry. Some have wondered how to trace the precise boundary between them. Mario Bunge argues that the two fields are so entangled with one another that no demarcation is possible or, indeed, desirable. In fact, sociological research has demonstrably philosophical pre-suppositions. In turn, some findings of sociology are bound to correct or enrich the philosophical theories that deal with the world, our knowledge of it, or the ways of acting upon it.
While Bunge's thesis would hardly...
Most social scientists and philosophers claim that sociology and philosophy are disjoint fields of inquiry. Some have wondered how to trace the pre...
This book discusses two of the oldest and hardest problems in both science and philosophy: What is matter?, and What is mind? A reason for tackling both problems in a single book is that two of the most influential views in modern philosophy are that the universe is mental (idealism), and that the everything real is material (materialism). Most of the thinkers who espouse a materialist view of mind have obsolete ideas about matter, whereas those who claim that science supports idealism have not explained how the universe could have existed before humans emerged. Besides, both groups tend to...
This book discusses two of the oldest and hardest problems in both science and philosophy: What is matter?, and What is mind? A reason for tackling bo...
This is the first book that analyzes and systematizes all the general ideas of medicine, in particular the philosophical ones, which are usually tacit. The aims of this book are to ferret out, investigate, and inter-relate the most general concepts and assumptions involved in medical research and practice. Most of these ideas are regularly discussed, in intuitive and unsystematic terms, in the most popular medical journals, such as the N Engl J Med, Lancet, BMJ, Arch Int Med, and JAMA. Instead of focusing on one or two points - typically disease and clinical trial - as the vast majority...
This is the first book that analyzes and systematizes all the general ideas of medicine, in particular the philosophical ones, which are usually tacit...
In den letzten drei Jahrzehnten des 20. Jahrhunderts ist die Philosophie der Biologie aus dem Schatten der physikorientierten Wissenschaftsphilosophie herausgetreten und hat sich als respektabler und bluhender Zweig der Wissenschaftsphilosophie etabliert. In ihrem Buch entwickeln die Autoren eine neue Wissenschaftsphilosophie der Biologie auf einer konsequent realistischen und emergentistisch-materialistischen Grundlage. Sie stellen ein strenges, einheitliches und wissenschaftsorientiertes philosophisches Fundament vor, das es ihnen ermoglicht, viele philosophische und Grundlagenfragen der...
In den letzten drei Jahrzehnten des 20. Jahrhunderts ist die Philosophie der Biologie aus dem Schatten der physikorientierten Wissenschaftsphilosophie...
This volume collects the lectures on the foundations of physics given by eleven scientists at the University of Delaware. It is neither an anthology of disconnected items nor a smoothly running textbook but rather a progress report on a neglected yet vital area of basic physical research, namely foundations research. The investigation into the foundations of any branch of science is neither loose speculation nor popular science: it is an aspect of scientific research - in fact the deepest-searching part of basic research. Con sequently it must be carried out by the scientist himself. Thus...
This volume collects the lectures on the foundations of physics given by eleven scientists at the University of Delaware. It is neither an anthology o...
This book deals with some of the current issues in the philosophy, methodology and foundations of physics. Some such problems are: - Do mathematical formalisms interpret themselves or is it necessary to adjoin them interpretation assumptions, and if so how are these as sumptions to be framed? - What are physical theories about: physical systems or laboratory operations or both or neither? - How are the basic concepts of a theory to be introduced: by ref erence to measurements or by explicit definition or axiomatically? - What is the use ofaxiomatics in physics? - How are the various physical...
This book deals with some of the current issues in the philosophy, methodology and foundations of physics. Some such problems are: - Do mathematical f...
The aims of this Introduction are to characterize the philosophy of science and technology, henceforth PS & T, to locate it on the map ofiearning, and to propose criteria for evaluating work in this field. 1. THE CHASM BETWEEN S & T AND THE HUMANITIES It has become commonplace to note that contemporary culture is split into two unrelated fields: science and the rest, to deplore this split - and to do is some truth in the two cultures thesis, and even nothing about it. There greater truth in the statement that there are literally thousands of fields of knowledge, each of them cultivated by...
The aims of this Introduction are to characterize the philosophy of science and technology, henceforth PS & T, to locate it on the map ofiearning, and...
This book is about some topical philosophical and methodological prob- lems that arise in the study of behavior and mind, as well as in the treatment of behavioral and mental disorders. It deals with such questions as 'What is behavior a manifestation of?', 'What is mind, and how is it related to matter?', 'Which are the positive legacies, if any, of the major psychological schools?', 'How can behavior and mind best be studied?', and 'Which are the most effective ways of modifying behavioral and mental processes?' These questions and their kin cannot be avoided in the long run because they...
This book is about some topical philosophical and methodological prob- lems that arise in the study of behavior and mind, as well as in the treatment ...
