Extending Ourselves
Computational Science, Empiricism, and Scientific Method
1st Edition
Published on 22. July 2004
183 pages
978-0-19-803600-5 (ISBN)
Description
Computational methods have become the dominant technique in many areas of science. This book contains the first systematic philosophical account of these new methods and their consequences for scientific method. This book will be of interest to philosophers of science and to anyone interested in the role played by computers in modern science.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
04/2007
Oxford University Press Inc
€87.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
08/2004
Oxford University Press Inc
€70.70
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Paul Humphreys is chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. A former editor of Synthese and a founding editor of Foundations of Science, his research interests include computer modeling, probability theory, strategic reasoning, emergence, causation, and explanation.
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- 1 Epistemic Enhancers
- 1.1 Extrapolation, Conversion, and Augmentation
- 1.2 Science Neither by the People nor for the People
- 2 Scientific Empiricism
- 2.1 Empiricism and Reliable Detection
- 2.2 The Dilution Argument
- 2.3 Accuracy, Precision, and Resolution
- 2.4 The Overlap Argument
- 2.5 Property Cluster Realism
- 2.6 Bridgman Revisited
- 2.7 Instruments as Property Detectors
- 2.8 Know Thy Instruments
- 2.9 Properties
- 2.10 Epistemic Security
- 3 Computational Science
- 3.1 The Rise of Computational Science
- 3.2 Two Principles
- 3.3 Units of Analysis
- 3.4 Computational Templates
- 3.5 ''The Same Equations Have the Same Solutions'': Reorganizing the Sciences
- 3.6 Template Construction
- 3.7 Correction Sets, Interpretation, and Justification
- 3.8 Selective Realism
- 3.9 Further Consequences
- 3.10 Templates Are Not Always Built on Laws or Theories
- 3.11 The Role of Subject-Specific Knowledge in the Construction and Evaluation of Templates
- 3.12 Syntax Matters
- 3.13 A Brief Comparison with Kuhn's Views
- 3.14 Computational Models
- 4 Computer Simulations
- 4.1 A Definition
- 4.2 Some Advantages of Computer Simulations
- 4.3 The Microscope Metaphor and Technological Advances
- 4.4 Observable, Detectable, and Tractable
- 4.5 Other Kinds of Simulation
- 4.6 Agent-Based Modeling
- 4.7 Deficiencies of Simulations
- 5 Further Issues
- 5.1 Computer Simulation as Neo-Pythagoreanism
- 5.2 Abstraction and Idealization
- 5.3 Epistemic Opacity
- 5.4 Logical Form and Computational Form
- 5.5 In Practice, Not in Principle
- 5.6 Conclusion
- References
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
