Worldviews : An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science

PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS EDITIONS "This is a brilliantly clear introduction (and indeed reframing) of the history and philosophy of science in terms of worldviews and their elements.... In addition, the book is incredibly well-informed from both a scientific and philosophical angle. Highly recommended."__Scientific and Medical Network__ "Unlike many other introductions to philosophy of science, DeWitt's book is at once historically informative and philosophically thorough and rigorous. Chapter notes, suggested readings, and references enhance its value."__Choice__ "Written in clear and comprehensible prose and supplemented by effective diagrams and examples, __Worldviews__ is an ideal text for anyone new to the history and philosophy of science. As the reader will come to find out, DeWitt is a gifted writer with the unique ability to break down complex and technical concepts into digestible parts, making __Worldviews__ a welcoming and not overwhelming book for the introductory reader."__History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences,__ vol. 28(2) Now in its third edition, __Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science__ strengthens its reputation as the most accessible and teachable introduction to the history and philosophy of science on the market. Geared toward engaging undergraduates and those approaching the history and philosophy of science for the first time, this intellectually-provocative volume takes advantage of its author's extensive teaching experience, parsing complex ideas using straightforward and sensible examples drawn from the physical sciences. Building on the foundations which earned the book its critical acclaim, author Richard DeWitt considers fundamental issues in the philosophy of science through the historical worldviews that influenced them, charting the evolution of Western science through the rise and fall of dominant systems of thought. Chapters have been updated to include discussion of recent findings in quantum theory, general relativity, and evolutionary theory, and two new chapters exclusive to the third edition enrich its engagement with radical developments in contemporary science. At a time in modern history when the nature of truth, fact, and reality seem increasingly controversial, the third edition of __Worldviews__ presents complex concepts with clarity and verve, and prepares inquisitive minds to engage critically with some of the most exciting questions in the philosophy of science. Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of Figures......Page 16 Acknowledgments......Page 20 Introduction......Page 22 Part I: Fundamental Issues......Page 26 Aristotle's Beliefs and the Aristotelian Worldview......Page 28 Aristotle's beliefs......Page 29 The Newtonian Worldview......Page 33 Evidence......Page 34 Common sense......Page 35 Preliminary Issues......Page 38 Clarifying the Question......Page 39 Correspondence Theories of Truth......Page 40 Different versions of coherence theories......Page 41 Problems/Puzzles about Correspondence Theories of Truth......Page 43 Assessing the accuracy of representations......Page 44 The Total Recall scenario......Page 45 Problems/Puzzles for Coherence Theories of Truth......Page 47 Philosophical Reflections: Descartes and the Cogito......Page 49 Concluding Remarks......Page 50 Preliminary Observations......Page 52 Concluding Remarks......Page 55 Confirmation Reasoning......Page 57 Inductive and Deductive Reasoning......Page 58 Concluding Remarks......Page 63 The Quine-Duhem Thesis......Page 64 Bodies of beliefs and the tribunal of experience......Page 65 Crucial experiments......Page 66 The underdetermination of theories......Page 67 Implications for Scientific Method......Page 68 Aristotle's axiomatic approach......Page 69 Popper’s falsificationism......Page 72 The hypothetico-deductive method......Page 73 Concluding Remarks......Page 74 Hume's Problem of Induction......Page 75 Hempel's Raven Paradox......Page 78 Goodman's Gruesome Problem......Page 80 Concluding Remarks......Page 81 Basic Ideas......Page 82 Complicating Factors......Page 83 Concluding Remarks......Page 85 Prediction and Explanation......Page 87 Instrumentalism and Realism......Page 88 Concluding Remarks......Page 91 Part II: The Transition from the Aristotelian Worldview to the Newtonian Worldview......Page 94 The Physical Structure of the Universe......Page 96 Conceptual Beliefs about the Universe......Page 98 Concluding Remarks......Page 101 Chapter 10: The Preface to Ptolemy's Almagest: The Earth as Spherical, Stationary, and at the Center of the Universe......Page 102 The Earth as Spherical......Page 103 Common-sense arguments......Page 105 The argument from objects in motion......Page 107 The argument from stellar parallax......Page 109 The Earth as the Center of the Universe......Page 111 Concluding Remarks......Page 112 Chapter 11: Astronomical Data: The Empirical Facts......Page 113 The Movement of the Stars......Page 114 The Movement of the Sun......Page 115 The Movement of the Planets......Page 116 Concluding Remarks......Page 119 A Scientific Problem with the Motion of the Heavenly Bodies......Page 120 Three cautionary notes......Page 123 Could This Account Be Used for a Moving Earth?......Page 124 Concluding Remarks......Page 125 Background Information......Page 127 A Brief Description of the Components of Ptolemy's Treatment of Mars......Page 128 The Rationale behind These Components......Page 129 Concluding Remarks......Page 135 Background Information......Page 136 Overview of the Copernican System......Page 137 Respecting the facts......Page 138 Retrograde motion and other more ``natural ́ ́ explanations......Page 139 From a realist standpoint, which system is the more plausible model of the universe?......Page 141 Neoplatonism......Page 142 Copernicus' commitment to uniform, circular movement......Page 143 The Reception of the Copernican Theory......Page 144 Concluding Remarks......Page 145 Chapter 15: The Tychonic System......Page 146 Tycho Brahe's empirical observations......Page 149 Tycho and Kepler......Page 150 Kepler's System......Page 151 What Motivated Kepler?......Page 152 Kepler's desire to read the mind of God......Page 153 Concluding Remarks......Page 157 Galileo and the Catholic church......Page 159 A note on the nature of the evidence from the telescope......Page 160 Mountains on the moon......Page 162 The rings, or ``ears, ́ ́ of Saturn......Page 163 The moons of Jupiter......Page 164 The phases of Venus......Page 165 The Reception of Galileo's Discoveries......Page 169 Falsifiability issues......Page 170 Concluding Remarks......Page 173 Problems for the Aristotelian Worldview......Page 175 Concluding Remarks......Page 178 A word of caution......Page 179 The Size of the Universe......Page 180 Concluding Remarks......Page 183 The New Science......Page 185 Universal gravitation......Page 186 Overview of the Newtonian Worldview......Page 187 Philosophical Reflections: Instrumentalist and Realist Attitudes Toward Newton's Concept of Gravity......Page 189 Concluding Remarks......Page 191 Scientific Laws......Page 192 Common features associated with scientific laws......Page 193 Counterfactuals......Page 195 Context dependence......Page 197 Ceteris paribus clauses......Page 198 Concluding Remarks......Page 199 Remarks on the Development of the Major Branches of Science, 1700-1900......Page 200 Chemistry......Page 201 Biology......Page 202 Electromagnetic theory......Page 203 The Michelson-Morley experiment......Page 205 Black body radiation......Page 208 Other issues......Page 209 Concluding Remarks......Page 211 Part III: Recent Developments In Science and Worldviews......Page 212 Absolute Space and Absolute Time......Page 214 Overview of the Special Theory of Relativity......Page 216 Is Special Relativity Self-Contradictory?......Page 222 What about their disagreements on what the other clocks read?......Page 225 From Sara's point of view......Page 226 Spacetime, Invariants, and the Geometrical Approach to Relativity......Page 227 Concluding Remarks......Page 231 Basic Principles......Page 232 The Einstein Field Equations and Predictions of General Relativity......Page 234 Philosophical Reflections: General Relativity and Gravity......Page 238 Concluding Remarks......Page 239 Preliminary Considerations......Page 240 Exploring Incommensurability......Page 242 Terminological incommensurability......Page 243 Methodological incommensurability......Page 245 Different worlds incommensurability......Page 247 Discussion: Incommensurability and Scientific Progress......Page 248 Concluding Remarks......Page 250 Facts, Theory, and Interpretation......Page 251 Quantum theory itself......Page 252 Some Quantum Facts......Page 253 A brief excursion into a reality issue......Page 254 Four experiments......Page 256 Descriptive overview of the mathematics of quantum theory......Page 260 If the mathematics of quantum theory is a familiar sort of wave mathematics, why do we often hear that quantum theory is such an unusual theory?......Page 261 A somewhat more detailed, but still descriptive, overview of the mathematics of quantum theory......Page 263 Concluding Remarks......Page 268 What is a measurement?......Page 269 The role of measurement in quantum theory......Page 271 Schrödinger's cat......Page 274 Subjectivity vs. objectivity......Page 276 System vs. apparatus; macroscopic vs. microscopic levels......Page 277 Universality......Page 278 Interpretations of Quantum Theory......Page 279 Collapse interpretations......Page 280 Mild measurement-dependent reality......Page 282 Radical measurement-dependent reality (consciousness-dependent reality)......Page 283 Einstein's realism......Page 284 Bohm's realism......Page 286 The many-worlds interpretation......Page 288 Observations on the interpretations of quantum theory......Page 289 Concluding Remarks......Page 292 Background Information......Page 293 The EPR Thought Experiment......Page 294 The argument for (1)......Page 296 Bell's Theorem......Page 297 Aspect's Experiments......Page 301 Locality, Nonlocality, and Spooky Action at a Distance......Page 302 Concluding Remarks......Page 306 Darwin's and Wallace's discovery: Evolution by natural selection......Page 307 A brief overview of evolutionary theory since Darwin and Wallace......Page 309 A word of caution......Page 313 The development of Darwin's views......Page 314 The development of Wallace's views......Page 317 Darwin's On the Origin of Species......Page 318 Concluding Remarks......Page 320 Implications for Religion......Page 321 Dennett, Dawkins, Weinberg, and others: ``no ́ ́......Page 322 Haught, process philosophy, and process theology......Page 323 Discussion......Page 326 Morality and Ethics......Page 328 The iterated prisoner's dilemma......Page 331 The ultimatum game......Page 334 Additional notes on cooperation and altruism......Page 336 The trust game......Page 337 Concluding Remarks......Page 339 Overview......Page 341 Reflections on Relativity Theory......Page 343 Reflections on Quantum Theory......Page 345 Reflections on Evolutionary Theory......Page 346 Metaphors......Page 347 Chapter Notes and Suggested Reading......Page 350 References......Page 370 Index......Page 378 End User License Agreement ......Page 0

PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS EDITIONS

"This is a brilliantly clear introduction (and indeed reframing) of the history and philosophy of science in terms of worldviews and their elements…. In addition, the book is incredibly well-informed from both a scientific and philosophical angle. Highly recommended."
Scientific and Medical Network

"Unlike many other introductions to philosophy of science, DeWitt's book is at once historically informative and philosophically thorough and rigorous. Chapter notes, suggested readings, and references enhance its value."
Choice

"Written in clear and comprehensible prose and supplemented by effective diagrams and examples, Worldviews is an ideal text for anyone new to the history and philosophy of science. As the reader will come to find out, DeWitt is a gifted writer with the unique ability to break down complex and technical concepts into digestible parts, making Worldviews a welcoming and not overwhelming book for the introductory reader."
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, vol. 28(2)

Now in its third edition, Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science strengthens its reputation as the most accessible and teachable introduction to the history and philosophy of science on the market. Geared toward engaging undergraduates and those approaching the history and philosophy of science for the first time, this intellectually-provocative volume takes advantage of its author's extensive teaching experience, parsing complex ideas using straightforward and sensible examples drawn from the physical sciences.

Building on the foundations which earned the book its critical acclaim, author Richard DeWitt considers fundamental issues in the philosophy of science through the historical worldviews that influenced them, charting the evolution of Western science through the rise and fall of dominant systems of thought. Chapters have been updated to include discussion of recent findings in quantum theory, general relativity, and evolutionary theory, and two new chapters exclusive to the third edition enrich its engagement with radical developments in contemporary science.

At a time in modern history when the nature of truth, fact, and reality seem increasingly controversial, the third edition of Worldviews presents complex concepts with clarity and verve, and prepares inquisitive minds to engage critically with some of the most exciting questions in the philosophy of science.

Winner of the 2018 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title! PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS EDITIONS "This is a brilliantly clear introduction (and indeed reframing) of the history and philosophy of science in terms of worldviews and their elements.... In addition, the book is incredibly well-informed from both a scientific and philosophical angle. Highly recommended." Scientific and Medical Network "Unlike many other introductions to philosophy of science, DeWitt's book is at once historically informative and philosophically thorough and rigorous. Chapter notes, suggested readings, and references enhance its value." Choice "Written in clear and comprehensible prose and supplemented by effective diagrams and examples, Worldviews is an ideal text for anyone new to the history and philosophy of science. As the reader will come to find out, DeWitt is a gifted writer with the unique ability to break down complex and technical concepts into digestible parts, making Worldviews a welcoming and not overwhelming book for the introductory reader." History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, vol. 28(2) Now in its third edition, Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science strengthens its reputation as the most accessible and teachable introduction to the history and philosophy of science on the market. Geared toward engaging undergraduates and those approaching the history and philosophy of science for the first time, this intellectually-provocative volume takes advantage of its author's extensive teaching experience, parsing complex ideas using straightforward and sensible examples drawn from the physical sciences. Building on the foundations which earned the book its critical acclaim, author Richard DeWitt considers fundamental issues in the philosophy of science through the historical worldviews that influenced them, charting the evolution of Western science through the rise and fall of dominant systems of thought. Chapters have been updated to include discussion of recent findings in quantum theory, general relativity, and evolutionary theory, and two new chapters exclusive to the third edition enrich its engagement with radical developments in contemporary science. At a time in modern history when the nature of truth, fact, and reality seem increasingly controversial, the third edition of Worldviews presents complex concepts with clarity and verve, and prepares inquisitive minds to engage critically with some of the most exciting questions in the philosophy of science. "Get a sound introduction to the history and philosophy of science. This book is an ideal text for those coming to the history and philosophy of science for the first time. It covers the key historical developments and philosophical themes and topics that have impacted upon our scientific view of the world around us, and introduces fundamental conceptual issues, including truth, empirical facts and philosophical/conceptual facts , falsifiability, and instrumentalism / realism." --Publisher description.