Werner Callebaut

Taking the Naturalistic Turn, Or How Real Philosophy of Science Is Done - Science and Its Conceptual Foundations series Werner Callebaut

Jacket Description/Back: In this innovative volume, leading philosophers of biology candidly and informally debate the limitations of this tradition and the advantages of the 'naturalistic turn'--the idea that matters of fact are as relevant to philosophical theory as they are to science. Table of Contents: Analytical Table of ContentsList of ParticipantsAcknowledgments1. Turning Naturalistic: An Introduction"Part One - Talking About It "2. Beyond Positivism and Historicism2.1. Three Philosophical Generations2.2. In Praise of the Received View (Yes)2.3. Alienation of Philosophy from Science: A 1990s Recap2.4. Who Killed Logical Positivism?2.5. A Decisive Transformation of Our Image of Science2.6. A Decisive Transformation of Our Image of Science2.7. Positivism and Historicism Back to Back2.8. Three Waves of Empirical Information: A Sneak Preview3. Toward a New Theory of Science: New Dimensions, Features, and Approaches3.1. Philosophy of What?3.2. First Voyager: From Engineering to Biology3.3. Second Voyager: From Economics to Biology, Back and Forth3.4. Third Voyager: From Mathematics to Biology3.5. Major Features of a Naturalized Philosophy of Science3.6. A Trojan Horse: Steps toward an Anthropology of Science 4. Philosophy of Science Revisited4.1. Explanation: The Hempel Heritage4.2. Reduction: Who Has the Last Word?4.3. The Realism-Constructivism Debate5. New Roles and Tools for Philosophers of Science5.1. Who Needs Philosophers Anyway?5.2. Underlaborers5.3. Discovery is Everywhere5.4. A General Picture of the Scientific Enterprise: Pros and Cons5.5. The Semantic View of Theories: A New Tool for the Trade5.6. A Role for Methodology after All?"Part Two - Doing It "6. Philosophy of Biology6.1. The View from Within6.2. Getting a Grip on Evolutionary Theory6.3. The Missing Half Pancake: The Elusive Environment6.4. The Social Construction of Genes and Ecosystems6.5. The Units-of-Selection Controversy6.6. What Evolves? Reconsidering the Metaphysics of Evolution7. Evolutionary Epistemology7.1. Is It Epistemology?7.2. The Evolutionary Approach to Science7.3. A Tool for the Historiographer7.4. In the Real Third World, People Die8. Cognitive Approaches to Science and Philosophy8.1. Steps Toward a Cognitive Science8.2. Varieties of Cognitivism8.3. Gibsonian Attractions8.4. Reconsidering the Mind/Brain Issue8.5. Neurophilosophy9. Development, Learning, and Culture9.1. Why Genetics Is Not Enough, I: The Return of Ontogeny9.2. Why Genetics is not Enough, II: The Biology of Behavior and Learning9.3. The Missing Link: Evolutionary Psychology?9.4. Fitness, The Bugbear of Evolutionary Biology9.5. Getting a Grip on Cultural Transmission9.6. Is Cultural Evolution Lamarckian?10. Philosophy Moves Along10.1. Evolutionary Ethics10.2. The Explosion of Philosophy of Science10.3. Philosophy Education10.4. Let Us Not Forget German History10.5. Gender Studies10.6. The Future of Science StudiesPostscriptReferencesIndexBiographical Note: Werner Callebaut is associate professor of philosophy in the Department of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Communication of Limburgs Universitair Centrum, Belgium, and assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy of the Rijksuniversiteit Limburg, The Netherlands. Publisher Marketing: Philosophers of science traditionally have ignored the details of scientific research, and the result has often been theories that lack relevance either to science or to philosophy in general. In this volume, leading philosophers of biology discuss the limitations of this tradition and the advantages of the "naturalistic turn"--the idea that the study of science is itself a scientific enterprise and should be conducted accordingly. This innovative book presents candid, informal debates among scholars who examine the benefits and problems of studying science in the same way that scientists study the natural world. Callebaut achieves the effect of face-to-face engagement through separate interviews with participants. Contributors include William Bechtel, Robert Brandon, Richard M. Burian, Donald T. Campbell, Patricia Churchland, Jon Elster, Ronald N. Giere, David L. Hull, Philip Kitcher, Karin Knorr Cetina, Bruno Latour, Richard Levins, Richard C. Lewontin, Elisabeth Lloyd, Helen Longino, Thomas Nickles, Henry C. Plotkin, Robert J. Richards, Alexander Rosenberg, Michael Ruse, Dudley Shapere, Elliott Sober, Ryan Tweney, and William Wimsatt. "Why can't we have both theoretical ecology and natural histories, lovingly done?" --Philip Kitcher "Don't underestimate the arrogance of philosophers!" --Elisabeth Lloyd Werner Callebaut teaches philosophy at Limburgs Universitair Centrum and the Universitat Limburg. Publisher Marketing: Philosophers of science traditionally have ignored the details of scientific research, and the result has often been theories that lack relevance either to science or to philosophy in general. In this volume, leading philosophers of biology discuss the limitations of this tradition and the advantages of the "naturalistic turn"--the idea that the study of science is itself a scientific enterprise and should be conducted accordingly. This innovative book presents candid, informal debates among scholars who examine the benefits and problems of studying science in the same way that scientists study the natural world. Callebaut achieves the effect of face-to-face engagement through separate interviews with participants. Contributors include William Bechtel, Robert Brandon, Richard M. Burian, Donald T. Campbell, Patricia Churchland, Jon Elster, Ronald N. Giere, David L. Hull, Philip Kitcher, Karin Knorr Cetina, Bruno Latour, Richard Levins, Richard C. Lewontin, Elisabeth Lloyd, Helen Longino, Thomas Nickles, Henry C. Plotkin, Robert J. Richards, Alexander Rosenberg, Michael Ruse, Dudley Shapere, Elliott Sober, Ryan Tweney, and William Wimsatt. "Why can't we have both theoretical ecology and natural histories, lovingly done?"--Philip Kitcher "Don't underestimate the arrogance of philosophers!"--Elisabeth Lloyd

Contributor Bio:  Callebaut, Werner Werner Callebaut is Scientific Manager of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Vienna, and Professor of Philosophy at Limburg University, Belgium. Contributor Bio:  Bechtel, William William Bechtel is professor of philosophy and science studies at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author and editor of many books, including Discovering Complexity (with Robert C. Richardson, 1993) and Connectionism and the Mind (with Adele Abrahamsen, 2002), and he is editor of the journal Philosophical Psychology. He is the current chair of the Cognitive Science Society and past president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology and the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology.