Kategoria BISAC: Science >> Philosophy & Social Aspects

How does modern science bear upon such ultimate questions as the origin of the universe and the existence of God? Cosmos, Bios, Theos is a portfolio of opinions and arguments from 60 scientists, including 24 Nobel Prize winners, on the relationshiip between the scientific enterprise and the religious view of reality.

Drawing upon the work of Karl Popper and W.W. Bartley III, this text argues for an approach to rationality freed from authoritarian dependence on reasons and justification. It proposes an objectivist interpretation to make sense of single-case probabilities, even in a deterministic universe.

The most penetrating scientific intellects have found that something beyond science is required to make sense of the cosmos, while many of those working for inter-faith dialogue have concluded that 'the story of the universe is the only thing that can bring the religions of the world together."

This thought-provoking collection of statements by acute thinkers -- most of them leading scientists, the rest philosophers and educators -- throws a startling new light on the relation between science and religion.

This user-friendly, comprehensive course in probability and statistics as applied to physical and social science explains the probability calculus, distributions and densities, and the rivals of Beyesianism - the classical, logical, and subjective theories. Howson and Urbach clearly lay out the theory of classical inference, the Neyman-Pearson theory of significance tests, the classical theory of estimation, and regression analysis. The work is controversial, but gives a fair and accurate account of the anti-Bayesian views it criticizes. The authors examined the way scientists actually appeal...

The study of the physical world had its origins in philosophy, and, two-and-one-half millennia later, the scientific advances of the twentieth century are bringing the two fields closer together again. So argues Lawrence Sklar in this brilliant new text on the philosophy of physics.Aimed at students of both disciplines, Philosophy of Physics is a broad overview of the problems of contemporary philosophy of physics that readers of all levels of sophistication should find accessible and engaging. Professor Sklar's talent for clarity and accuracy is on display throughout as he guides...

This book presents the current feminist critique of science and the philosophy of science in such a way that students of philosophy of science, philosophers, feminist theorists, and scientists will find the material accessible and intellectually rigorous.Contemporary feminist debate, as well as the debate brought on by the radical critics of science, assumesincorrectlythat certain movements in philosophy of science and science-driven theory are understood in their dynamics as well as in their details. All too often, labels such as Kuhnian or positivistic are taken for granted, and much of the...

The development of modern science, and its increasing impact on our lives and cultures, is one of the great stories of our time. So, understanding--and coming to terms with--the institution of modern science should be an integral part of education. In The Many Faces of Science, Leslie Stevenson and Henry Byerly masterfully, and painlessly, provide the basic information and the philosophical reflection students need to gain such understanding. The authors make good use of case study methods, and they introduce us to dozens of figures from the history of science. Stevenson and Byerly...

Advances in genetic technology in general and medical genetics in particular will enable us to intervene in the process of human biological development which extends from zygotes and embryos to people. This will allow us to control to a great extent the identities and the length and quality of the lives of people who already exist, as well as those we bring into existence in the near and distant future. Genes and Future People explores two general philosophical questions, one metaphysical, the other moral: (1) How do genes, and different forms of genetic intervention (gene therapy,...

"Dusek's book is an intellectual feast where we find magic, witches, mysterious correlations, trigrams of the I Ching, forces and fields, peasants and Platonists, wild nature, primitives and sophisticates, and how they hang together." --Robert S. Cohen, professor of physics and philosophy emeritus, Boston University While many books have claimed parallels between modern physics and Eastern philosophy, none have dealt with the historical influences of both Chinese traditional thought and nonmechanistic, holistic Western thought on the philosophies of the scientists who developed...

An analysis of the role science plays within American society, with suggestions for a better interchange between scientists and key US institutions. The author suggests that science, by virtue of its accuracy and reliability, deserves to be at the top of the hierarchy of knowledge.

As science penetrates the secrets of nature, with each discovery generating new questions, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein will sound its note of warning. Many scientific developments have provoked references to Frankenstein, a story that, for nearly two centuries, has gripped our imaginations and haunted our nightmares. How can society balance the benefits of medical discoveries against the ethical or spiritual questions posed?

Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature accompanies a traveling exhibit of the same name. This lavishly illustrated volume...

This volume presents the first systematic evaluation of a feminist epistemology of science's power to transform both the practice of science and our society. Unlike existing critiques, this book questions the fundamental feminist suggestion that purging science of alleged male biases will advance the cause of both science and by extension, social justice. The book is divided into four sections: the strange status of feminist epistemology, testing feminist claims about scientific practice, philosophical and political critiques of feminist epistemology, and future prospects of feminist...

Since the eighteenth century when natural historians created the idea of distinct racial categories, scientific findings on race have been a double-edged sword. For some antiracists, science holds the promise of one day providing indisputable evidence to help eradicate racism. On the other hand, science has been enlisted to promote racist beliefs ranging from a justification of slavery in the eighteenth century to the infamous twentieth-century book, The Bell Curve, whose authors argued that racial differences in intelligence resulted in lower test scores for African...

For generations, aspiring women scientists have looked to Marie Curie, the famed Nobel Prize-winning chemist, for inspiration. But what lesson, exactly, are they to draw from her example? Marie Curie was exceptional, but she was ordinary as well. She faced all the trials and tribulations shared by women of her time; furthermore, she had to contend with the barriers against women's wider participation in educational institutions, in scientific practice, and professional attainments and rewards. Indeed, her struggles and failures tell us more about the fate of women in the sciences,...

Thousands of religious traditions have appeared over the course of human history but only a relative few have survived. Some speak of a myriad of gods, others of only one, and some recognize no gods at all. Volumes have been written attempting to prove the existence or non-existence of supernatural being(s). So, if religion is not about God, then what is it about? In this provocative book, Loyal Rue contends that religion, very basically, is about us. Successful religions are narrative (myth) traditions that influence human nature so that we might think, feel, and act in ways that are good...

The first section of Life Science Ethics introduces students to essential background concepts in moral theory -- ethics, the relationship of religion to ethics, how to assess ethical arguments, and a method used to reason about ethical theories. The next section demonstrates the relevance of ethical reasoning to six topics:
-- The relative moral standing of ecosystems, nonhuman animals, and future human generations
-- The moral justifiability of genetic engineering as a whole and the patenting of life forms in particular
-- Our duty to aid the hungry
-- Our obligation to animals...

American religion, Steven Goldberg claims, has fallen into a trap. Just at the moment when it has amassed the political strength and won the legal right to participate effectively in public debate, it has lost its distinctive voice. Instead of speaking of human values, goals, and limits, it speaks in the language of science.

In the United States, science has extraordinary influence and respect. American religious leaders seeking prestige for their point of view regularly couch their responses to technological developments, or defend their faith, in scientific terms. They claim, for...

American religion, Steven Goldberg claims, has fallen into a trap. Just at the moment when it has amassed the political strength and won the legal right to participate effectively in public debate, it has lost its distinctive voice. Instead of speaking of human values, goals, and limits, it speaks in the language of science.

In the United States, science has extraordinary influence and respect. American religious leaders seeking prestige for their point of view regularly couch their responses to technological developments, or defend their faith, in scientific terms. They claim, for...

Thrust into the public eye by the contentious -Science Wars---played out most recently by physicist Alan Sokal's hoax--the nascent field of science studies takes on the political, historical, and cultural dimensions of technology and the sciences.

Science Studies is the first comprehensive survey of the field, combining a concise overview of key concepts with an original and integrated framework. In the process of bringing disparate fields together under one tent, David J. Hess realizes the full promise of science studies, long uncomfortably squeezed into traditional...