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This book offers the first sustained investigation of the phenomenon of retraction - the “taking back” of the conventional or deontic effects of a previous speech act - bringing together issues and solutions from the semantics of perspectival expressions and from the framework of Speech Act theory. It addresses questions that have been at the center of lively debates in philosophy of language and linguistics, but also draws out some of the ramifications these questions have for certain debates in the logic of discourse, philosophy of mind or experimental philosophy. Many times, what we say on a certain occasion proves to be wrong. When we realize this, we sometimes react by retracting what was previously said – formally or informally, explicitly or not. The essays in this volume tackle issues such as what are the necessary and sufficient conditions for successfully performing a retraction, whether there is a solid empirical basis for retraction, whether the phenomenon can be used in favor or against certain semantics views, whether there is a type of retraction that is merely verbal, or what are the ethical implications of retraction. The volume brings together and puts in dialogue renowned researchers on these topics, serving both as a fixture for specialists and as an introduction into the topic of retraction.

This book sheds new light on the interactions between the science of complexity and the science of systems. Though both of these fields have been independently studied extensively, their interrelations have not been satisfactorily analyzed. By a superficial view, both the sciences are based on the same principles of the holistic behavior of the ensembles consisting of components. The author providing an expert analysis on the theory of complexity and bridges the gap to generalize it, by elaborating on all the observable manifestations of complex forms and behaviors and explaining how it is related to general theory of systems.Particular attention is given to the use of chemical concepts throughout the text to demonstrate the theories as well as the interactions between the two. The central point of this book is the new rational representation of systems that origins from some chemical concepts about the structure of molecules and graph theoretical chemical theory. Thisnovel text appeals to experienced researchers, students, and all those curious about theories of systems, complexities, and theoretical chemistry.

This is the first book to cover and explore the rules and exceptions in biology. It presents past and current perspectives on the subject and discusses the various situations of transition from rule to exception and vice versa. In doing so, the book fills a gap in the scientific literature and stimulates useful and valuable discussions among researchers working in biology worldwide. The chapters begin with a theoretical framework, followed by the main topic(s) or question(s), and a summary of previous work on the topic. Examples are discussed, with concluding remarks and suggestions for future research. A section with key concepts is included at the end of each chapter, allowing the reader to jump directly to the most important findings or observations. Each chapter is written to be used as a reference by graduate students and professionals from a variety of scientific disciplines (e.g. behavior, ecology, evolution, and systematics).

This book examines several epistemological regimes in studies of numerical data over the last four centuries. It distinguishes these regimes and mobilises questions present in the philosophy of science, sociology and historical works throughout the 20th century. Attention is given to the skills of scholars and their methods, their assumptions, and the socio-historical conditions that made calculations and their interpretations possible. In doing so, questions posed as early as Émile Durkheim's and Ernst Cassirer's ones are revisited and the concept of symbolic form is put to the test in this particular survey, conducted over long period of time. Although distinct from a methodological and epistemological point of view, today these regimes may be found together in the toolbox of statisticians and those who comment on their conclusions. As such, the book is addressed to social scientists and historians and all those who are interested in numerical productions.

This book challenges the prevailing, though often unacknowledged, view among most practicing scientists and philosophers that human free will is incompatible with the natural causality that is the basic presupposition of modern science. That position is essentially based on the reductionist view of modern physics that all complex phenomena are thought to be ultimately causally explainable solely as a function of the action of their elemental constituents. The book argues that this mainstream opinion is the appropriate logical result of an inadequate conception of the way nature works. To show this the book first details the fundamental philosophical incoherence in the prevailing scientific world view. It then justifies the critique by outlining and re-describing some key findings of modern science, and presents three related alternative aspects by which we can understand the occurrence of natural emergence. In so doing it is suggested that emergence is a pervasive phenomenon in the natural world, and that human free will is an entirely understandable development of these natural processes, when properly understood, in which humanity is appropriately seen as a natural emergent within the evolutionary processes operating in accord with natural selection. Human Emergence and Our Place in the Natural World is essential reading for all philosophers of metaphysics and of science.

The authors Matteo Collodel and Eric Oberheim take the reader on a journey through the early life of the famous Austrian philosopher Paul Feyerabend, whose groundbreaking work Against the Method forged new paths in the philosophical understanding of science. Collodel and Oberheim's book contains the translated correspondence of Feyerabend (1924-1994) with equally influential philosophers and scientists of the time, including Rudolf Carnap, Herbert Feigl, Carl G. Hempel, J.J.C. Smart, David Bohm, and Thomas Kuhn. This book offers an entirely unique approach to the philosopher Paul Feyerabend. Informative, challenging and profound, it immerses the reader deeply in the mind of a truly revolutionary philosopher of science.The main focus lies on the explanation of Paul Feyerabend's ideas on logical empiricism and quantum mechanics, which he developed especially in the 1960s. In order to appreciate the celebrated work of the philosopher, it is important to create an understanding of these formative years in Feyerabend's life and work.Anyone who knows similar discussions, like the paradigm shift of Thomas Kuhn, or has a passion for history, philosophy and science will be fascinated by the works of Paul Feyerabend. As scientists and followers of Feyerabend, Collodel and Oberheim strive to pay respect to the philosopher and to make his work accessible to a whole new generation.

This book addresses central issues in the philosophy and metaphysics of science, namely the nature of scientific theories, their partial truth, and the necessity of scientific laws within a moderate realist and empiricist perspective. Accordingly, good arguments in favour of the existence of unobservable entities postulated by our best theories, such as electrons, must be inductively grounded on perceptual experience and not their explanatory power as most defenders of scientific realism claim. Similarly, belief in the reality of dispositions such as causal powers which ground the natural necessity of scientific laws must be based on experience. Hence, this book offers a synthetic presentation of an original metaphysics of science, namely a metaphysics of properties, both categorical and dispositional, while at the same time opposing strong versions of necessitarism according to which laws are true in all possible worlds.The main theses and arguments are clearly presentedin a non-technical way. Thus, on top of being of interest to the specialists of the topics discussed, it is also useful as a textbook in courses for third year and more advanced university students.

Science and the rule of law are the two pillars of modernity. Even though both result from the attempt to employ reason to limit the exercise of power in the scientific and the political sphere, they bear in themselves the germs of their own destruction: scientism and welfare totalitarianism. This book examines a trend towards a new, specifically postmodern totalitarianism, namely a regime of “actually existing postmodernism” that is based on the collusion of four elements: (i) scientism and its political use, (ii) intellectual postmodernism, (iii) welfare states, and (iv) crony capitalism. The book then shows a way out by utilising the philosophy of Descartes and Kant, the social-normative turn in the 20th century, and the resources of Austrian libertarianism from Hayek and Popper to Mises, Rothbard and Hoppe. These intellectual resources lay the ground for a New Enlightenment and an open society shaped by a free science and voluntary cooperation under the rule of law. Restoring Science and the Rule of Law is essential reading for philosophers of science and for political theorists interested in the foundations of the rule of law.

Die »Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie«, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die »Enzyklopädie« umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Die „Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie“, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die „Enzyklopädie“ umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Die »Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie«, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die »Enzyklopädie« umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Die »Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie«, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die »Enzyklopädie« umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Die »Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie«, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die »Enzyklopädie« umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Die »Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie«, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die »Enzyklopädie« umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Die »Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie«, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die »Enzyklopädie« umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Die »Enzyklopädie Philosophie- und Wissenschaftstheorie«, das größte allgemeine Nachschlagewerk zur Philosophie im deutschsprachigen Raum, wurde 1980 begonnen und 1996 mit dem vierten Band abgeschlossen. Sie erschien 2005 bis 2018 in einer komplett aktualisierten und erweiterten 8-bändigen Neuauflage, die hiermit nun in einer kartonierten Sonderausgabe vorliegt. Die »Enzyklopädie« umfasst in Sach- und Personenartikeln nicht nur den klassischen Bestand des philosophischen Wissens, sondern auch die neuere Entwicklung der Philosophie, insbesondere in den Bereichen Logik, Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie sowie Sprachphilosophie. Zugleich finden Grundlagenreflexionen in den Wissenschaften und deren Geschichte ausführliche Berücksichtigung. Die umfassenden Bibliographien und Werkverzeichnisse wurden für die 2. Auflage in allen Artikeln auf den neuesten Stand gebracht.

Philosophie als Wissenschaft, als Grundlagendisziplin und als interdisziplinäre Forschung: Ansätze, die sich eine zu Unrecht fast vergessene philosophische Schule zu eigen gemacht hat, nämlich die 1903 neu gegründete Fries'sche Schule um den Göttinger Philosophen Leonard Nelson (1882-1927). Sie steht in der Tradition der Philosophie Immanuel Kants (1724-1804) und Jakob Friedrich Fries'(1773-1843). Der Nelsonkreis hält dem Vergleich mit dem Wiener Kreis stand. Die Anhänger des Nelsonkreises kamen u.a. aus der Mathematik, Physik, Philosophie, Psychologie, Theologie und den Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften. Über sie wirkte die kantisch-friessche Philosophie teilweise in andere Disziplinen hinein. Zu nennen sind beispielsweise der Psychiater und Psychologe Arthur Kronfeld (1846-1941), der Biochemiker und Nobelpreisträger Otto Meyerhof (1884-1951), der Mathematiker Gerhard Hessenberg (1874-1925), die Philosophin und Physikerin Grete Henry-Hermann (1901-1984), die Pädagogin MinnaSpecht (1879-1961), der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler Alexander Rüstow (1885-1963), der Theologe Rudolf Otto (1869-1937), der Soziologe Franz Oppenheimer (1864-1943) und der Sozialwissenschaftler Gerhard Weisser (1898-1989).Die Ausstrahlung des Nelsonkreises auf verschiedene Disziplinen sowie dessen Geschichte sind bislang noch nicht umfassend untersucht worden. Diese Forschungslücke soll mit dem vorliegenden Band geschlossen werden. Der systematische Forschungsband bietet zudem eine Einführung und einen Überblick zur Philosophie Leonard Nelsons.

This book provides a state-of-the-art review of Pilot Wave Theory at the beginning of the XXI century. It contains the best contributions of the first International Conference on Advances in Pilot Wave Theory, held in Lisbon in 2021. The event brought together physicists from the new emerging field of Hydrodynamic Quantum Analogs (HQA) and philosophers of science. Three main themes were discussed: 1. Hydrodynamic quantum analogs, 2. Theoretical advances in pilot wave physics and, 3. Philosophical foundations of pilot wave theory. Recent experimental work in HQA has provided impetus to develop the pilot-wave approach into a realistic basis of quantum mechanics, specifically a dynamical completion of the existing theory of quantum statistics. To that end, the meeting featured theoretical work that advanced Louis de Broglie original pilot wave theory. This collection shows how several aspects of quantum systems have been reproduced in the hydrodynamic environment, and how the power of analogy suggests the possibility of a relatively intelligible quantum realm. Most notably, the notion of memory, as engendered in the pilot-wave-hydrodynamic system, suggests a profitable direction to explore in developing a more complete description of quantum phenomena. This book is expected to be of great interest to physicists, computer scientists and philosophers of science interested in the foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Chapter 1 and Chapter 12 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Der Beginn von Naturwissenschaft und Geisteswissenschaft in der Antike war gemeinsam, aber die Naturwissenschaft hatte sich bis zum Ende des 19. Jahrhundert durch ihre Erfolge dominant entwickelt. Gegen diese Dominanz prägte der Philosoph Wilhelm Dilthey 1883 den Begriff der Geisteswissenschaften. In den Naturwissenschaften war es andrerseits klar, dass ganze Bereiche des Geistes den Naturwissenschaften nicht zugänglich waren, etwa sinnliche Empfindungen und das Bewusstsein.Das Buch versucht zu zeigen, dass dieser harte Gegensatz weicher geworden ist. Die Physik ist geistiger geworden und die Technologie des Geistes hat sich entwickelt: Es ist im Grundsatz die Informationstechnologie. Mit der Mathematik als Fundament und als Hilfsmittel ergibt dies MINT.Ein geistiges Weltbild ohne MINT ist in Würde nicht möglich. Es gibt eine Reihe von MINT-Bereichen, die unmittelbar geisteswissenschaftlich von Nutzen sind. Beispiele sind etwa das Prinzip des Lasers undder Begriff der Entropie. Ein dritter, geistiger Bereich bleibt außerhalb: die Kunst. Aber Kunst und MINT sind keine Gegensätze.

Dieses interdisziplinäre Handbuch rekonstruiert Optimierung als ein Phänomen, das konstitutiv in aktuelle Entwicklungen der Gegenwart eingeschrieben ist. Denn es erscheint kaum mehr möglich, nicht optimieren zu wollen oder zu können. Das gilt für die Arbeit an sich selbst, die Verbesserung des Anderen und die Perfektionierung der Welt. Optimierung verspricht messbare Steigerungen von Effektivität und Effizienz sowie eine Erweiterung der Reichweite von Einfluss und Macht. Sie wirft aber auch Fragen der Instrumentalisierung, der Verdinglichung und Entfremdung sowie Fragen nach Grenzen und Unverbesserlichkeiten auf. Ohne eine Auseinandersetzung mit der Idee der Optimierung lässt sich eine moderne Humanwissenschaft heute nicht mehr konzipieren.

This book offers innovative historical scholarship on Feyerabend's take on topics such as realism, empiricism, pluralism, materialism, and incommensurability. In addition to discussing certain debates in the philosophy of physics, it also considers the ways in which Feyerabend's thought can contribute to contemporary debates in science and public policy. It does so by including questions about the nature of scientific methodology, the role of science in society, the public understanding of science, scientism, and the role of expertise in public policy. The chapters provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the topics that Feyerabend engaged with throughout his career, showing both the breadth and the depth of his thought. Though of great value to academics in philosophy of science, it is also accessible and appealing to non-academic audiences with a general interest in science.

This book shows that the assumption that classical logic is essentially a bivalent (i.e., 2-valued) logic, a logic of truth and falsity, is an incorrect and harmful conception. Classical logic is certainly a Boolean logic, and the smallest (non-degenerate) Boolean algebra is the 2-element Boolean algebra; however, there are numerous Boolean algebras that have more than 2 elements, such as the 4-, 8-, 16-,..., infinite-element Boolean algebra, and they all work equally well for the semantics of classical logic. Contrary to the popular thought, there is such a thing as classical (or Boolean) many-valued logic. The book applies this logic to solve such philosophical problems as the Fission Problem for personal identity, the Sorites Paradox, and the Liar Paradox. All these problems concern situations that involve indeterminacy or vagueness, situations where there seems'no fact of the matter'that makes the relevant sentences true or false, thus requiring truth value gaps between truth and falsity. Because of that, classical logic has been thought to be an inadequate tool to deal with the problems. This book, however, offers solutions to those problems by retaining classical logic but assigning intermediate Boolean values to the relevant sentences. The book is of great value to researchers and graduate students in philosophy, especially for those who are interested in the philosophical issues surrounding indeterminacy, vagueness, and truth.

In der Formierungsphase der Neuzeit hat Blaise Pascal den durch den Fortschritt der Wissenschaften verursachten Wandel des Weltbildes sowohl existentiell erlitten wie kritisch reflektiert. Das zentrale Anliegen Pascals, der selbst ein bedeutender Wissenschaftler war, bestand darin, eine Vernunftkonzeption zu entwickeln, die der Wissenschaft ebenso wie dem religiösen Glauben Raum gibt. In den Beiträgen dieses Bandes der Reihe Neue Horizonte der Religionsphilosophie wird zum einen das Projekt Pascals im Kontext des 17. Jahrhunderts hermeneutisch erschlossen. Zum anderen wird systematisch reflektiert, welche Bedeutung ihm in den gegenwärtigen Kontroversen um ein gemessenes Verhältnis von Vernunft und Religion, Gott und Säkularität zukommen kann.

This book promotes entirely new insights into women's contributions to the history of philosophy and boasts papers spanning the centuries from Antigone until twentieth century phenomenology, covering fields from logic to mysticism, stretching from Brazil to Early Modern Europe. The book is of interest for all scholars and students of the history of philosophy, but especially for those who are interested in women philosophers and in new narratives in the history of philosophy. The book is representative of the immense scope of academic discussion women were involved in over the centuries as well as their varying styles and methods. It features papers in logic and in mysticism, presents papers on female authors in Antiquity and in the twenty-first century and it includes papers on phenomenology and analytic philosophy. The chapters consider philosophical positions in literature and drama, in letters and in classical philosophical treatises, ensuring this book contributes significantly to research on the individual women authors, who are all to date still understudied figures.

This book presents a new ‘partitional'approach to understanding or interpreting the math of standard quantum mechanics (QM). The thesis is that the mathematics (not the physics) of QM is the Hilbert space version of the math of partitions on a set and, conversely, the math of partitions is a skeletonized set level version of the math of QM. Since at the set level, partitions are the mathematical tool to represent distinctions and indistinctions (or definiteness and indefiniteness), this approach shows how to interpret the key non-classical QM notion of superposition in terms of (objective) indefiniteness between definite alternatives (as opposed to seeing it as the sum of ‘waves'). Thus, the book develops a new mathematical, or indeed, logical, approach to the century-old problem of interpreting quantum mechanics, ensure it is of interest to philosophers of science as well as mathematicians and physicists.

This book offers a unique perspective on the colonial roots of modern science, technology, and medicine (STM) in South Asia. The book questions the deconstruction of imperial visions and definitions of science and modernity in South Asia. It presents an in-depth analysis of the contested relationship between science, modernity, and colonialism. It explores how new research can contribute to the diversification of perspectives in the history and sociology of modern South Asian studies. The chapters in the book delve into various aspects of STM in South Asia. It covers diverse topics, including the social, cultural, and pedagogic context of early modern Bengal, the popularization of science in colonial Punjab, the Hindi science periodical Vigyan, and the emergence of the Indian science community. The book also examines the intersection of indigenous medical practices, ayurveda, Unani, and medical revivalism and highlights peripheral creativity in science. The contributors engage with the existing historiography to raise new questions concerning the global circulations of scientific knowledge from the perspective of South Asia and the regional appropriation of the same. It connects the history of science and modernity with South Asia's socio-economic and cultural background. It offers valuable insights into the decolonization of STM. It greatly interests scholars and students of modern South Asian history, sociology, social anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS).

This book emphasizes the rising need for people to have a basic understanding of science and technology and the emphatic role they can play in shaping the AI-driven future, especially in terms of creating sustainable societies with growing job opportunities. This book highlights why a smoothly functioning society will require, but does not yet possess in critical numbers, policymakers, senior managers, government officials, and those entering the high-end of the AI-driven job market who have a shared vision and a shared understanding of how science shapes the future of sustainable societies.This book makes the case that the destiny of Homo sapiens is not just about evolutionary biology but increasingly about evolutionary knowledge. This book describes the web of knowledge where scientific theories appear as intellectual constructs, which lead to new knowledge that open opportunities for gainful human employment for the well-educated while eliminating jobsfor the less-educated by advancing AI in a predator–prey adversarial model (the logistic map), thus raising livelihood concerns across wide swathes of human population.This inevitably leads to the question, “How should intellectual property rights, especially patents, be granted and protected when AI becomes advanced enough to invent without human intervention?” To answer this question, lawmakers, policymakers, managers, government officials, judiciary, enforcement agencies, etc., must have sufficient knowledge of how scientific theories impact modern society. After reading this book, the reader will be able to find answers to the following questions:•How do scientific theories impact modern society?•What is the intellectual base on which science and technology policies are founded?•Why do individuals across a population need to possess scientific knowledge?•What are the rising concerns of peoplein finding sustainable employment in an AI-driven world?•What is the compelling need to understand the role of patentable inventions in a world where intellectual property is wealth?

This book presents and defends an original and paradigm-shifting conception of formal science, natural science, and the natural universe alike, that's fully pro-science, but at the same time neither theological or God-centered, nor solipsistic or self-centered, nor communitarian or social-institution-centered, nor scientistic or science-valorizing, nor materialist/physicalist or reductive, nor—above all—mechanistic. It does this by presenting and defending what Robert Hanna calls the neo-organicist turn, including manifest realism and the three sub-parts of metaphysical organicism: liberal naturalism, mind-life continuity, and explanatory inversion, whereby mechanical systems are explained by grounding them in organic systems, and not the other way around. Or more briefly and simply put, the purpose of this book is to present and defend science for humans. As such, it will be highly interesting and profoundly relevant to graduate students and specialist researchers in philosophy and the formal-&-natural sciences.

Anlässlich seines 100. Geburtstages wird an Paul K. Feyerabend erinnert; es werden seine Ideen diskutiert und es wird gefragt, inwieweit diese geeignet sind, aktuelle Geschehnisse und Konflikte zu beurteilen.

Dieser Band versammelt Texte aus dem Nachlass Moritz Schlicks über den Begriff und die Geschichte der Philosophie. Ein großer Teil davon gehört zum Spätwerk Schlicks, und er plante selbst, sie zu publizieren. Diese Edition macht darum erstmals und im Zusammenhang Texte zugänglich, die noch weitgehend unbekannt sind. Schlick zeichnete darin die Philosophiegeschichte als Geschichte eines Irrtums. Dieser Irrtum wurde von den Eleaten zuerst begangen, indem sie Schein und Sein unterschieden, und wird seither in wechselnder Terminologie wiederholt. Durch die moderne Logik kann dieser Irrtum nach Schlicks Ansicht beseitigt werden.

This book explores the issue of (un)explainable technology. As we face technologies, mostly autonomous, machine-learned algorithms (AI) that elude a seamless explanation on how they work (“black boxes”), several issues both from an epistemological as well as ethical perspectives emerge. It is thus not surprising that there are plenty of technological attempts in illuminating the black box as well as philosophical efforts in conceptualizing and re- assessing our concepts of an explanation and understanding, as well emerging ethical questions on how to deal with this unexplainable technology. This book thus offers a succinct and comprehensive, opinionated but fair view on the emerging ethical debate on explainability of AI and its relevance for using AI for different more or less sensitive decision-making procedures. As a short book, the goal is to introduce the reader to the issues at hand while also offering normative arguments from different sides that motivate, complicate, and resolve these issues.

Aus der Sicht der Neurobiologie regiert im Kopf das neuronale Geschehen. Doch was wissen die Hirnforscher genau über die Mechanismen des Hirngeschehens und ihren Einfluss auf den menschlichen Geist? Dieser Frage geht Brigitte Falkenburg nach. Die Physik hat sich längst vom mechanistischen Weltbild gelöst, in der Neurobiologie bleiben überholte mechanistische Vorstellungen bis heute wirksam. Dabei sind die'mechanistischen'Erklärungen der Hirnforschung ganz anders als ihr Name suggeriert; und wer annimmt, der Geist sei so strukturiert wie die Materie, zieht atomistische und kausale Fehlschlüsse über das Bewusstsein. Falkenburgs Buch möchte die Debatte um Geist und Gehirn, freien Willen und Determinismus endlich davon befreien. Es liefert Grundzüge einer Wissenschaftstheorie der Hirnforschung und eröffnet den Weg zu einem differenzierteren Naturverständnis und Menschenbild. Das beliebte Sachbuch ist für die zweite Auflage vollständig überarbeitet und aktualisiert worden.

Heilberufler, d.h. Ärzt•innen, Pflegende und Vertreter anderer Professionen, die in der Versorgung sterbender Menschen und deren Angehöriger tätig sind, haben Vorstellungen vom Tod ausgebildet. Diese leiten die Behandlungsweise von sterbenden Menschen, da sie Antworten auf fundamentale Fragen geben. Was ist der Tod? Wann tritt ein Mensch in seine letzte Lebensphase ein? Todesvorstellungen sind meist Mischkonzepte. Wissenschaft, Berufserfahrung, Mythologie, Religion, allgemeine Werte gehen in sie ein. Die vorliegende Publikation erforscht die Todesvorstellungen von Heilberuflern und stellt sie in ihrer Diversität dar. Der Band führt dabei Methoden der Literaturzusammenfassung vor, die von fortgeschrittenen Studierenden, Doktoranden und jungen Forscher•innen verwendet werden können, um einen relevanten Forschungsstand zu dokumentieren. Eine wissenschaftshistorische und methodische Reflexion fundiert diese Vorstellung.

How can we teach machine learning to identify causal patterns in data? This book explores the very notion of “causality”, identifying from a naturalistic and evolutionary perspective how living systems deal with causal relationships. At the same time, using this knowledge to identify the best ways to apply such biological models in machine learning scenarios. One of the more fundamental challenges for AI experts is to design machines that can understand the world, identifying the basic rules that govern reality. Statistics are powerful and fundamental for this process, but they are only one of the necessary tools. Counterfactual thinking is the other part of the necessary process that will help machines to become intelligent. This book explains the paths that can lead to algorithmic causality. It is essential reading for those who are not afraid of thinking at the interface of various academic disciplines or fields (AI, machine learning, philosophy, neuroscience, anthropology, psychology, computer sciences), and who are interested in the analysis of causal thinking and the ways in which cognitive systems (natural or artificial) can act in order to understand their environment. Professor Vallverdú is currently working on biomimetic cognitive architectures and multicognitive systems. His research has explored two main areas: epistemology and cognition. Since his early Ph.D. research on epistemic controversies, he has analyzed several aspects of computational epistemology. His latest research has focused on the causal challenges of machine learning techniques, particularly deep learning. One of his most promising advances is statistics meets causal graph reasoning (via Directed Acyclic Graphs), which still has several conceptual paths that need to be explored and identified. Counterfactual reasoning is a fundamental part of these open debates, which are under the analysis of Prof. Vallverdú. His current research is supported as part of the following projects: GEHUCT and ICREA Acadèmia.

This volume offers a new interpretation of the genesis of the idea of scientific progress in early modern science and philosophy. The interpretation argues that the idea of scientific progress was not a historical category, but an epistemological one. The main thesis of the book posits that the idea of scientific progress was a methodological means of dealing with the contingency of nature. To illustrate the novelty of the idea, the individual chapters compare several features of Renaissance natural philosophy with a new regime of knowledge that included time as an inevitable factor of empirical research. The temporal regime of knowledge is illustrated by the work of Bernard de Fontenelle and his colleagues at the Académie des sciences in Paris at the end of the 17th century. The new interpretation remedies a gap in recent scholarship where the idea of scientific progress has been overlooked even though the early modern natural philosophers themselves used it to describe the nature of their research. The book places both well-known texts and less-studied documents in a new light, thus contributing to the lively and rich debate on the origins and nature of early modern science and philosophy. It is of interest to scholars studying the history of early modern philosophy and science.

This book celebrates and explores some philosophical issues raised by the work of Alan Weir, who is Professor Emeritus at the University of Glasgow, having previously held positions at the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Queen's, Belfast. In a number of areas, Weir has elaborated strikingly original views which involve a radical departure from the mainstream. These include formalism in the philosophy of mathematics, and as well as naïve set theory, with a universal set, and a naïve theory of truth. In contrast to other contemporary defenders of the latter two theories, Weir rejects dialetheism and accepts classical rules for the logical connectives. He avoids contradictions by restricting certain structural inference rules, specifically some generalized versions of transitivity. In addition, Weir has developed radical versions of naturalism and physicalism (partly informed by his work on Quine) and perceptual realism. This collection includes contributions by a distinguished group of philosophers on Weir's philosophy, as well as a memoir and a new essay on the philosophy of mathematics by Weir himself.

Dispositionalism, perhaps the most popular variant of non-Humean metaphysics, submits that dispositions, powers, or capacities, are part of the furniture of the world. In this book I advance an original approach to dispositionalism revolving around the notion of Dispositional Reality; the novelty lies in the fact that the account, unlike most alternatives on the market, does not require the reification of objects, facts, properties, nor their dispositional essences – and is in fact compatible with a far more deflationary approach to dispositions, while still being true to the non-Humean spirit of the proposal. This power metaphysics without powers allows one to dispel several puzzles in recent literature, or recast them under a new light. Albeit with its own peculiarities, this proposal constitutes a variant of explanatory dispositionalism, according to which realism about dispositions ought not to be understood as an ontological inflation, but as an explanatory inversion within thenomic and modal family. Some of these explanations are hereby attempted, and a study of various types of non-causal explanation will be provided.

Kurt Gödel was not just a brilliant logician but contributed also important results to the general theory of relativity. In the 1940s he found a solution to Einstein's field equations which (roughly speaking) allows for time-travel, i.e. compromises our very notion of time. This book brings together the contributions to the Kurt Gödel essay competition on the question:'What does it mean for our world view if, according to Gödel, we also assume the non-existence of time?” Kurt Gödel war nicht nur ein brillanter Logiker, sondern trug auch wichtige Ergebnisse zur allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie bei. In den 1940er Jahren fand er eine Lösung für die Einsteinschen Feldgleichungen, die (grob gesagt) Zeitreisen ermöglicht, d.h. unsere Vorstellung von Zeit in Frage stellt. Dieses Buch versammelt die Beiträge zum Kurt-Gödel-Aufsatzwettbewerb zu der Frage:'Was bedeutet es für unser Weltbild, wenn wir mit Gödel die Nichtexistenz der Zeit annehmen?'

This volume contains eighteen papers that have been collected by the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics. It showcases rigorously-reviewed contemporary scholarship on an interesting variety of topics in the history and philosophy of mathematics, as well as the teaching of the history of mathematics. Some of the topics explored includeArabic editions of Euclid's Elements from the thirteenth century and their role in the assimilation of Euclidean geometry into the Islamic intellectual traditionPortuguese sixteenth century recreational mathematics as found in the Tratado de Prática Darysmetica A Cambridge correspondence course in arithmetic for women in England in the late nineteenth centuryThe mathematical interests of the famous Egyptologist Thomas Eric (T. E.) Peet The history of Zentralblatt für Mathematik and Mathematical Reviews and their role in creating a publishing infrastructure for a global mathematical literatureThe use of Latin squares for agricultural crop experiments at the Rothamsted Experimental StationThe many contributions of women to the advancement of computing techniques at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in the 1960sThe volume concludes with two short plays, one set in Ancient Mesopotamia and the other in Ancient Egypt, that are well suited for use in the mathematics classroom.Written by leading scholars in the field, these papers are accessible not only to mathematicians and students of the history and philosophy of mathematics, but also to anyone with a general interest in mathematics.

This book describes the groundbreaking work of Chaim Leib Pekeris and his collaborators. Between 1955 and 1963 they used the first electronic computer built in Israel, the Weizmann Automatic Computer (WEIZAC), to develop powerful numerical methods that helped achieve new and accurate solutions of the Boltzmann equation, calculate energy levels of the helium atom, produce detailed geophysical and seismological models derived from the study of the free oscillations of the earth, and refine models used to predict meteorological phenomena and global oceanic tides. This book provides a unique account of the pioneering work of Chaim L. Pekeris in applied mathematics and explains in detail the background to the rise of the Weizmann Institute as a world-class center of scientific excellence. This hitherto untold story is of great interest to historians of twentieth-century science with special emphasis on the application of computer-assisted numerical methods in various branches of mathematical physics.

This book provides an English translation of the work Principles of the Probability Calculus published in 1886 by Johannes von Kries, which discusses the range theory of probability. It offers a novel account of the foundations of probability, an account which was familiar to Keynes, Kneale, Weber, Reichenbach, and von Mises. This account dispenses with the principle of indifference in probability, and it introduces the method of arbitrary functions. Confusions in the history of probability are pinpointed, and a novel theory is developed in which probability is neither entirely subjective nor objective. The book develops what is known as the range theory or Spielraum theory in detail, in a narrative way using few formulas. Von Kries applies range theory to Boltzmann's theory of the statistical behaviour of gases, and to several applications in medical statistics. Many uses of probability are found wanting; very often they are found not to admit any expression of probability in numbers at all. The book will be of first interest to philosophers of science and historians interested in the foundations of probability. It is also of general interest to anyone who applies statistics everyday in such fields as econometrics, psychology, or medicine.

This volume collects previously unpublished contributions to the philosophy of science. What brings them together is a twofold goal: first and foremost, celebrating the name of Roberto Torretti, whose works in this and other areas have had –and continue to have– a significant impact on the international philosophy of science community; and second, the desire of advancing novel perspectives on various issues in the philosophy of science broadly construed. Roberto Torretti has made substantial contributions to current debates in the history and philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the philosophy of physics and geometry. Among his landmark contributions, we find his investigations in the history and philosophy of geometry, as well as his systematic studies of Einstein's relativity theory. This volume convenes leading philosophers and early-career scholars compiling a fine collection of chapters addressing recent debates on Kantian philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the history and philosophy of physics and mathematics.

This book deals with the evolution of mathematical thought during the 20th century. Representing a unique point of view combining mathematics, philosophy and history on this issue, it presents an original analysis of key authors, for example Bourbaki, Grothendieck and Husserl. As a product of 19th and early 20th century science, a canon of knowledge or a scientific ideology, mathematical structuralism had to give way. The succession is difficult, still in progress, and uncertain. To understand contemporary mathematics, its progressive liberation from the slogans of'modern mathematics'and the paths that remain open today, it is first necessary to deconstruct the history of this long dominant current. Another conception of mathematical thought emerged in the work of mathematicians such as Hilbert or Weyl, which went beyond the narrow epistemological paths of science in the making. In this tradition, mathematical thought was accompanied by a philosophical requirement. Modernity teaches us to revive it. The book is intended for a varied public: mathematicians concerned with understanding their discipline, philosophers of science, and the erudite public curious about the progress of mathematics.

In this book, Matej Kohar demonstrates how the new mechanistic account of explanation can be used to support a non-representationalist view of explanations in cognitive neuroscience, and therefore can bring new conceptual tools to the non-representationalist arsenal. Kohar focuses on the explanatory relevance of representational content in constitutive mechanistic explanations typical in cognitive neuroscience. The work significantly contributes to two areas of literature: 1) the debate between representationalism and non-representationalism, and 2) the literature on mechanistic explanation.Kohar begins with an introduction to the mechanistic theory of explanation, focusing on the analysis of mechanistic constitution as the basis of explanatory relevance in constitutive mechanistic explanation. He argues that any viable analysis of representational contents implies that content is not constitutively relevant to cognitive phenomena. The author also addresses objections against his argument and concludes with an examination of the consequences of his account for both traditional cognitive neuroscience and non-representationalist alternatives. This book is of interest to readers in philosophy of mind, cognitive science and neuroscience.

Die Topic-informierte Diskursanalyse ist ein Mixed-Methods-Verfahren, das Methoden des Text-Mining mit der Wissenssoziologischen Diskursanalyse verbindet, um Diskurstransformationen im Zeitverlauf zu analysieren. Im ersten Teil wird das Verfahren entwickelt und der epistemologische, theoretische, methodologische und methodische Aufbau erläutert. Im zweiten Teil wird das Verfahren am Beispiel der Volkszählungs- und Zensusdebatte in Deutschland in den Jahren 1982-2020 angewendet und veranschaulicht. Das Buch richtet sich an Diskursforscher:innen und Forscher:innen der Digital Humanities, die Methoden aus beiden Fachbereichen kombiniert einsetzen und anwenden wollen.

This book, a tribute to historian of mathematics Jeremy Gray, offers an overview of the history of mathematics and its inseparable connection to philosophy and other disciplines. Many different approaches to the study of the history of mathematics have been developed. Understanding this diversity is central to learning about these fields, but very few books deal with their richness and concrete suggestions for the “what, why and how” of these domains of inquiry. The editors and authors approach the basic question of what the history of mathematics is by means of concrete examples. For the “how” question, basic methodological issues are addressed, from the different perspectives of mathematicians and historians. Containing essays by leading scholars, this book provides a multitude of perspectives on mathematics, its role in culture and development, and connections with other sciences, making it an important resource for students and academics in the history and philosophy of mathematics.

Indikatoren sind in Prozessen des Monitorings in allen gesellschaftlich relevanten Bereichen sowie in Prozessen der wirtschaftlichen und politischen Entscheidungsfindung von der lokalen Ebene bis zur internationalen Governance unverzichtbar geworden. Überall in der öffentlichen und medialen Kommunikation begegnen sie uns und rechtfertigen die Wahl zwischen unterschiedlichen Optionen. Doch was zeigen uns diese Indikatoren eigentlich genau an, worin beruht ihre Relevanz, was sind ihre Stärken, was aber auch ihre prinzipiellen Grenzen? Können sie die Komplexität einzelner Sachverhalte wirklich auf das Relevante reduzieren – oder verkomplizieren sie Probleme noch weiter? Stellen sie unsere Entscheidungen auf sichere Füße – oder wiegen sie uns lediglich in der Illusion von Objektivität?Das Buch leuchtet in kurzen Fallstudien die jeweiligen Grundlagen der Erstellung von Indikatoren, aber auch ihrer Verwendung und der Ergebnisinterpretation aus und betont Leistungen, aber auch Fallstricke und Fehlannahmen. Zudem versucht es zur besseren Orientierung auf diesem unübersichtlichen Gebiet auf möglichst verbindliche Weise in das verwendete Fachvokabular einzuführen.

Wir Menschen wissen bereits seit über 400 Jahren, dass wir uns unverschämterweise nicht im Zentrum des Universums befinden. Dennoch war die Überraschung groß, als mit Beginn der Raumfahrt die ersten Fotografien der blauen Erdkugel auftauchten. Umweltaktivisten erschraken vor der Fragilität der Atmosphäre, Philosophinnen distanzierten sich vom Menschen und Landschaftsfotografen entdeckten fremde Welten in der bereits bekannten. Bernd Pröschold hat in Wüstenlandschaften, im Erdorbit und sogar in der Tiefsee außerirdisch anmutende Motive aufgespürt und zu einem essayistischen Bildband im Querformat verarbeitet. Vor kosmischer Kulisse zeichnet er die Konturen eines zweibeinigen Wesens, dessen Schicksal viel enger mit dem Weltall verwoben ist, als unsere Alltagserfahrung es erahnen lässt. Wir begeben uns auf einen visuellen Streifzug durch extraterrestrische Bildwelten, bereichert durch Zitate und Anekdoten – ein Muss für alle Naturfreunde, Philosophen und Weltraum-Fans.

This book builds on recent scholarship highlighted in the edited collections, Philosophie, histoire, biologie: mélanges offerts à Jean Gayon (Merlin & Huneman, 2018) and Knowledge of Life Today (Gayon & Petit 2018/2019). While honoring the career and the thought of Jean Gayon (1949-2018), this book showcases the continued relevance of Gayon's interdisciplinary work and illustrates his central place in the community of historians and philosophers of the life sciences.Chapters in this book address Jean Gayon's intellectual trajectory from historical epistemology to the philosophy of biology, the nature and scope of his philosophical approach to the history of science, and his unique contributions to the history and epistemology of biological concepts and theories. Drawing on published and unpublished sources, the book explores some of Gayon's most significant contributions to the philosophy, history, and social studies of biology.

Just as the six branches of a snow crystal converge in regular proportions toward their common center, the six contributions to this book point toward a future philosophy of cosmic life. In this sense, this edited volume represents a multidisciplinary and transcultural polylogue of distinguished authors from three continents, which aims to establish highly innovative perspectives and open new frontiers of developing philosophical reflections and scientific foundations for the emergence of a common cosmic consciousness, for an integral ecology, and for a cooperative planetary civilization of humanity. John B. Cobb, Jr. uses a process-philosophical foundation to describe life as living events expressing novelty and the cosmos as a process of self-enriching and self-evolving “Life Itself.” Chandra Wickramasinghe unfolds his scientific and philosophical perspective on cosmic life in twelve successive steps, offering a wide range of arguments and insights that support an up-to-date theory of panspermia. Attila Grandpierre presents the'Cosmic Life Principle'and the comprehensive science based upon it that is inextricably linked to the healthy and cooperative civilization, to the biological laws of nature, to the laws of logic, to the uplifting of the well-being of people and ecological communities. Chunyou Yan introduces the approach of his holographic philosophy, according to which the universe must be understood as a vast living entity, every aspect of which represents life. Bei Peng shows that the proportions of energy meridians in traditional Chinese medicine correspond to musical intervals, and on this basis she demonstrates the analogy of the human body to macrocosmic phenomena. David Bartosch offers an examination of three important systematic foundations for a poly-contextural, transcultural philosophy of cosmic life with roots in Greek, Chinese, South and West Asian, and European traditions of thought.