Representing and Intervening
Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Science

An introduction to the philosophy of natural science, organized around the central theme of scientific realism, first published in 1983.

Ian Hacking (Author)

9780521282468, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 20 October 1983

304 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.41 kg

' … its refreshingly provocative style and broad sweep will excite readers much more than the usual woodenly written introductions.' The Times Literary Supplement

This 1983 book is a lively and clearly written introduction to the philosophy of natural science, organized around the central theme of scientific realism. It has two parts. 'Representing' deals with the different philosophical accounts of scientific objectivity and the reality of scientific entities. The views of Kuhn, Feyerabend, Lakatos, Putnam, van Fraassen, and others, are all considered. 'Intervening' presents the first sustained treatment of experimental science for many years and uses it to give a new direction to debates about realism. Hacking illustrates how experimentation often has a life independent of theory. He argues that although the philosophical problems of scientific realism can not be resolved when put in terms of theory alone, a sound philosophy of experiment provides compelling grounds for a realistic attitude. A great many scientific examples are described in both parts of the book, which also includes lucid expositions of recent high energy physics and a remarkable chapter on the microscope in cell biology.

Analytical table of contents
Preface
Introduction: rationality
Part I. Representing: 1. What is scientific realism?
2. Building and causing
3. Positivism
4. Pragmatism
5. Incommensurability
6. Reference
7. Internal realism
8. A surrogate for truth
Part II. Intervening: 9. Experiment
10. Observation
11. Microscopes
12. Speculation, calculation, models, approximations
13. The creation of phenomena
14. Measurement
15. Baconian topics
16. Experimentation and scientific realism
Further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of science [PDA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]