Mechanistic Explanations in Physics and Beyond

This volume offers a broad, philosophical discussion on mechanical explanations. Coverage ranges from historical approaches and general questions to physics and higher-level sciences . The contributors also consider the topics of complexity, emergence, and reduction.
Mechanistic explanations detail how certain properties of a whole stem from the causal activities of its parts. This kind of explanation is in particular employed in explanatory models of the behavior of complex systems. Often used in biology and neuroscience, mechanistic explanation models have been often overlooked in the philosophy of physics.
The authors correct this surprising neglect. They trace these models back to their origins in physics. The papers present a comprehensive historical, methodological, and problem-oriented investigation. The contributors also investigate the conditions for using models of mechanistic explanations in physics. The last papers make the bridge from physics to economics,the theory of complex systems and computer science .
This book will appeal to graduate students and researchers with an interest in the philosophy of science, scientific explanation, complex systems, models of explanation in physics higher level sciences, and  causal mechanisms in science.

List of contents

Part I: INTRODUCTION.- Introduction.- Part II: HISTORICAL APPROACHES.- Chpater 1: Stathis Psillos: Mechanisms, Then and Now.- Chapter 2: Brigitte Falkenburg: Mechanistic Explanations: History, Scope, and Limitations.- Chapter 3: Gregor Schiemann: Old and New Mechanistic Explanations.- Part III: GENERAL QUESTIONS.- Chapter 4: Michel Ghins: Mechanistic Explanation: An Extension and a Defence.- Chapter 5: Marco Buzzoni: Multilevel Reality and Mechanistic Explanations.- Chapter 6: Jan Faye: Causal Mechanism, Complexity, and the Environment.- Chapter 7: Paul Weingartner: Is Every Causal Explanation a Mechanistic Explanation?.- Chapter 8: Hans Lenk: About the New Mechanistical Turn of Causal Epistemology.- Part IV:  MECHANISMS IN PHYSICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE.- Chapter 9: Dennis Dieks: Explanation and Mechanisms in Physics.- Chapter 10: Ion-Olimpiu Stamatescu: Explanation, the Progress of Physical Theories, and Computer Simulations.- Chapter 11: Itala M. Loffredo D'Ottaviano: Autonomous Action in Complex Mechanical Systems: A Real Dilemma?.- Chapter 12: Vinzenco Fano: Computation and Reality.

About the author

Brigitte Falkenburg is Professor for Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Political Science at the Technische Universität Dortmund. She holds a diploma in physics, a PhD in Philosophy and a 2nd PhD in Physics. Her areas of specialization are: philosophy of science and technology, history of philosophy (Kant, Hegel, Neo-Kantianism). Selected publications: Mythos Determinismus (Heidelberg: Springer 2012); Particle Metaphysics (Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer 2007); Kants Kosmologie (Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann 2000); Wem dient die Technik? Johann Joachim Becher-Preis 2002. Ed. by the J.J.Becher-Stiftung (Baden-Baden: Nomos 2004). As editor: Why More is Different (with M. Morrison) (Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer 2015); From Ultrarays to Astroparticles (with W. Rhode) (Dordrecht: Springer 2012); Natur – Technik – Kultur (Paderborn: Mentis 2007); Erhard Scheibe: Between Rationalism and Empiricism. Selected Papers in the Philosophy of Physics (New York: Springer 2001).
Gregor Schiemann is Professor for Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy at the Bergische Universität in Wuppertal. He holds a diploma in physics and a PhD in Philosophy. His areas of specialization are: history and philosophy of science, the concept of nature and the relation between science and lifeworld. Selected publications: Hermann von Helmholtz's Mechanism: The Loss of Certainty (Dordrecht: Springer, 2009); Werner Heisenberg (München: Beck, 2008); as editor and author (with M. Heidelberger) The Significance of the Hypothetical in the Natural Sciences. (Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, 2009), (with A. Nordmann and H. Radder) Science Transformed? Debating claims of an epochal break (Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011); as editor (with D. Lehmkuhl and E. Scholz) Towards a Theory of Spacetime Theories (Dordrecht: Springer, 2017).

Summary

This volume offers a broad, philosophical discussion on mechanical explanations. Coverage ranges from historical approaches and general questions to physics and higher-level sciences . The contributors also consider the topics of complexity, emergence, and reduction.

Mechanistic explanations detail how certain properties of a whole stem from the causal activities of its parts. This kind of explanation is in particular employed in explanatory models of the behavior of complex systems. Often used in biology and neuroscience, mechanistic explanation models have been often overlooked in the philosophy of physics.

The authors correct this surprising neglect. They trace these models back to their origins in physics. The papers present a comprehensive historical, methodological, and problem-oriented investigation. The contributors also investigate the conditions for using models of mechanistic explanations in physics. The last papers make the bridge from physics to economics,the theory of complex systems and computer science .

This book will appeal to graduate students and researchers with an interest in the philosophy of science, scientific explanation, complex systems, models of explanation in physics higher level sciences, and  causal mechanisms in science.

Report

"Very interesting and thought provoking, so I strongly encourage everyone interested to read this book." (V. Kreinovich, Computing Reviews, October 1, 2021)

Product details

• Assisted by: Brigitte Falkenburg (Editor), Schiemann (Editor), Gregor Schiemann (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 09.09.2019
• EAN: 9783030107062
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3010706-2
• No. of pages: 220
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 241 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 500 g
• Illustrations: VIII, 220 p. 6 illus.
• Series: European Studies in Philosophy of Science
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > Miscellaneous; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Miscellaneous