Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Idealization and the Aims of Science

Idealization and the Aims of Science

Potochnik, Angela

Paperback

PhilosophyHistory & Philosophy of Science

ISBN10: 022675944X
ISBN13: 9780226759449
Publisher: Univ Of Chicago Pr
Published: Sep 23 2020
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.86
Height: 0.60 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Science is the study of our world, as it is in its messy reality. Nonetheless, science requires idealization to function-if we are to attempt to understand the world, we have to find ways to reduce its complexity.

Idealization and the Aims of Science shows just how crucial idealization is to science and why it matters. Beginning with the acknowledgment of our status as limited human agents trying to make sense of an exceedingly complex world, Angela Potochnik moves on to explain how science aims to depict and make use of causal patterns-a project that makes essential use of idealization. She offers case studies from a number of branches of science to demonstrate the ubiquity of idealization, shows how causal patterns are used to develop scientific explanations, and describes how the necessarily imperfect connection between science and truth leads to researchers' values influencing their findings. The resulting book is a tour de force, a synthesis of the study of idealization that also offers countless new insights and avenues for future exploration.

Also in

Philosophy

View All