The Concept of Scientific Law in the Philosophy of Science and Epistemology: A Study of Theoretical Reason (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 208)

The author argues that a reconstruction of scientific laws should give an account of laws relating phenomena to underlying mechanisms generating them, as well as of laws relating this mechanism to its inherent capacities. While contemporary philosophy of science deals only with the former, the author provides the concept for the reconstruction of scientific laws, where the knowledge of the phenomena enables one to grasp the quantity of their cause. He then provides the concepts for scientific laws dealing with the relation of the quantity and quality of the cause underlying phenomena to the quality and quantity of its capacities. Finally, he provides concepts for scientific laws expressing how a certain cause, due to the quantity and quality of its capacities, generates the quantitative and qualitative determinations of its manifestations. The book is intended for philosophers of science and philosophers of social science, as well as for natural and social scientists. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Law of Appearance....Pages 3-13 Popper’s Moa....Pages 14-30 Front Matter....Pages 31-31 The Idealizational Law of Essence....Pages 33-51 Ontological Foundations....Pages 52-59 Front Matter....Pages 61-61 The Inherent Law of Essence....Pages 63-84 The Three Faces of Measure....Pages 85-107 The Essential Formality....Pages 108-121 The Inherent Law and Essentialism....Pages 122-133 Substance-Subject....Pages 134-153 Front Matter....Pages 155-155 Epistemology and Logic....Pages 157-174 Hegel’s and Marx’s Categories: A Comparison....Pages 175-196 Conclusion....Pages 197-200 Back Matter....Pages 201-230