The Structure of Biological Science

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Paperback | 20 May 1985

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296 Pages

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23.5 x 19.05 x 1.58

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This book provides a comprehensive guide to the conceptual methodological, and epistemological problems of biology, and treats in depth the major developments in molecular biology and evolutionary theory that have transformed both biology and its philosophy in recent decades. At the same time the work is a sustained argument for a particular philosophy of biology that unifies disparate issues and offers a framework for expectations about the future directions of the life sciences. The argument explores differences between autonomist and anti-autonomist views of biology. The result is a vindication of reductionism, but one that is unexpectedly hollow. For it leaves the exponents of the autonomy of biology from physical science with as much as their view of biology really requires - and rather more than the reductionist might comfortably concede. Professor Rosenberg shows how the problems of the philosophy of biology are interconnected and how their solutions are interdependent, However, this book focuses more on the direct concerns of biologists, rather than the traditional agenda of philosophers' problems about biology. This departure from earlier books on the subject results both in greater understanding and relevance of the philosophy of science to biology as a whole.

Industry Reviews

'Alex Rosenberg has written an extremely informative introduction to the issues in philosophy of biology. Offering a unified perspective on traditional problems of teleology, reductionism, the structure of evolutionary theory, and the nature of species, he provides lucid summaries of the competing approaches to these problems and develops interesting ideas and arguments of his own. The treatment throughout reflects current discussions among biologists and philosophers. This book ought to become the leading single-author text on the subject and it should be read by anybody who has an interest in the philosophy of biology.' Philip Kitcher, Professor of Philosophy, University of Minnesota, and Director, Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science 'The Golden Age of Biology has been with us for over three decades, and yet Rosenberg is the first philosopher to write a book on the philosophy of biology which makes significant use of all the recent advances in biochemistry and molecular biology. He is the first philosopher to know enough about these advances to make use of them. If Rosenberg's book is any indication, philosophy of biology is entering into its own Golden Age. David L. Hull, Professor of Philosophy, Northwestern University

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Preface	p. ix
Biology and Its Philosophy	p. 2
The Rise of Logical Positivism	p. 2
The Consequences for Philosophy	p. 4
Problems of Falsifiability	p. 6
Philosophy of Science Without Positivism	p. 8
Speculation and Science	p. 10
Introduction to the Literature	p. 11
Autonomy and Provincialism	p. 13
Philosophical Agendas versus Biological Agendas	p. 13
Motives for Provincialism and Autonomy	p. 18
Biological Philosophies	p. 21
Tertium Datur?	p. 25
The Issues in Dispute	p. 30
Steps in the Argument	p. 34
Introduction to the Literature	p. 35
Teleology and the Roots of Autonomy	p. 37
Functional Explanations in Molecular Biology	p. 39
The Search for Functions	p. 43
Functional Laws	p. 47
Directively Organized Systems	p. 52
The Autonomy of Teleological Laws	p. 59
The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Functional Explanation	p. 62
Functional Explanation Will Always Be with Us	p. 65
Introduction to the Literature	p. 67
Reductionism and the Temptation of Provincialism	p. 69
Motives for Reductionism	p. 69
A Triumph of Reductionism	p. 73
Reductionism and Recombinant DNA	p. 84
Antireductionism and Molecular Genetics	p. 88
Mendel's Genes and Benzer's Cistrons	p. 93
Reduction Obstructed	p. 97
Qualifying Reductionism	p. 106
The Supervenience of Mendelian Genetics	p. 11
Levels of Organization	p. 117
Introduction to the Literature	p. 119
The Structure of Evolutionary Theory	p. 121
Is There an Evolutionary Theory?	p. 122
The Charge of Tautology	p. 126
Population Genetics and Evolution	p. 130
Williams's Axiomatization of Evolutionary Theory	p. 136
Adequacy of the Axiomatization	p. 144
Introduction to the Literature	p. 152
Fitness	p. 154
Fitness Is Measured by Its Effects	p. 154
Fitness As a Statistical Propensity	p. 160
The Supervenience of Fitness	p. 164
The Evidence for Evolution	p. 169
The Scientific Context of Evolutionary Theory	p. 174
Introduction to the Literature	p. 179
Species	p. 180
Operationalism and Theory in Taxonomy	p. 182
Essentialism--For and Against	p. 187
The Biological Species Notion	p. 191
Evolutionary and Ecological Species	p. 197
Species Are Not Natural Kinds	p. 201
Species As Individuals	p. 204
The Theoretical Hierarchy of Biology	p. 212
The Statistical Character of Evolutionary Theory	p. 216
Universal Theories and Case Studies	p. 219
Introduction to the Literature	p. 225
New Problems of Functionalism	p. 226
Functionalism in Molecular Biology	p. 228
The Panglossian Paradigm	p. 235
Aptations, Exaptations, and Adaptations	p. 243
Information and Action Among the Macromolecules	p. 246
Metaphors and Molecules	p. 255
Bibliography	p. 266
Index	p. 273
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

The Structure of Biological Science

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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