Scientific nihilism : on the loss and recovery of physical explanation /
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| Author / Creator: | Athearn, Daniel, 1951- |
|---|---|
| Imprint: | Albany : State University of New York Press, c1994. |
| Description: | ix, 387 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | SUNY series in philosophy |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | E-Resource Print Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/1660307 |
Table of Contents:
- Acknowledgments
- Part 1. Current Outlooks in the Shadow of the Technicalization of Physics
- Introduction
- 1. The Causalist Quest in Physical Science
- Early Philosophical Turbulence
- Advanced Causalist Physics
- The New Era of Physics and the Reign of the Cult of Surfaces
- 2. "Law Explanation"
- Foundations of Logico-Empiricism
- Instrumentalism and Antirealism: Breaking the Link
- The "Covering Law" Model
- Why Theory of Explanation?
- 3. Philosophy and the Structure of Causation
- The Positivist Conception of Science
- Schlick's Humean Arguments
- Positivists on Indeterminism
- Hobart's Defense of Hume
- Is "Productionism" Anthropomorphism?
- Conclusions
- 4. Causal Realist Projects, I
- Composition of Causes
- Ontology of Latent Properties
- The Success of Critical Realism
- Causality and Forces
- Conclusions
- 5. Causal Realist Projects, II
- The Theory of Transmission
- Explanation as a Theme: A Mark of Basic Acausalism
- "Probabilistic" Process
- Conclusion
- Part 2. Physical Ontology
- Introduction
- 6. Radiation and Causality
- Enigmatic Physical Activity
- Empty Space Events?
- Causal Contour
- The Transition in Interaction
- Conclusion
- 7. Time, Space, and Genetic Structure
- Whitehead on Time and "Process"
- A Sense-Making Application
- The Ontological Shift
- Conclusions and Ramifications
- 8. Interatomic Reality
- Realism and Quantum Interpretation
- Richness of the Concept of Causality
- Quantum Mysteries
- Propagation and Spatial Representation
- Explanation and Causal Composition
- Summary and Transition
- 9. Absolute Causal Reference
- History of the Problem
- Whitehead's Solution
- Flat Transition and Structured Transition
- Conclusion
- 10. Velocity C and Emergent Extension
- Relativity: Theories, Models, Explanations
- The Nature of the Problem
- Furnishing the Physical Context
- Whitehead's Theory
- Conclusions
- Notes
- Index
