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Informationen zum Autor Friedel Weinert is Professor of Philosophy at Bradford University and a former Visiting Research Fellow at Harvard University and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the LSE in London. He holds a PhD in Philosophy, a BA in Sociology, and a BSc in Physics. Dr. Weinert is the editor of Laws of Nature (1995), the author of The Scientist as Philosopher (2004) and chief editor of the forthcoming Compendium of Quantum Physics: Concepts, Experiments, History and Philosophy. Klappentext Scientific ideas change the way we think about the world and our place in it. Nicolaus Copernicus developed a heliocentric view of the cosmos that displaced humans from the physical center of the universe. Charles Darwin developed an evolutionary theory that placed humans firmly within the organismic order of nature. It was Sigmund Freud who saw himself as completing this cycle of disparagement by destroying the belief that humans were 'masters in their own house'.Copernicus, Darwin and Freud: Revolutions in the History and Philosophy of Science deals with issues in the area of intersection between history and philosophy of natural and social science. Using Copernicanism, Darwinism and Freudianism as extended case studies, Friedel Weinert illustrates the profound connections between science and philosophy and shows how scientific theories invariably have philosophical consequences. Philosophical controversies surrounding ideas of human nature, realism and instrumentalism, models and theories, laws of nature and scientific method are all examined within the context of concrete problem situations in the history of science.Copernicus, Darwin and Freud is an engaging and versatile text suitable for a variety of courses in the history and philosophy of science or for individual study. Zusammenfassung Scientific ideas change the way we think about the world and our place in it. Nicolaus Copernicus developed a heliocentric view of the cosmos that displaced humans from the physical center of the universe. Charles Darwin developed an evolutionary theory that placed humans firmly within the organismic order of nature. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface ix Acknowledgments x Introduction 1 I Nicolaus Copernicus: The Loss of Centrality 3 1 Ptolemy and Copernicus 3 2 A Clash of Two Worldviews 4 2.1 The geocentric worldview 5 2.2 Aristotle's cosmology 5 2.3 Ptolemy's geocentrism 9 2.4 A philosophical aside: Outlook 14 2.5 Shaking the presuppositions: Some medieval developments 17 3 The Heliocentric Worldview 20 3.1 Nicolaus Copernicus 21 3.2 The explanation of the seasons 25 3.3 Copernicus and the Copernican turn 28 3.3.1 A philosophical aside: From empirical adequacy to theoretical validity 32 3.4 Copernicus consolidated: Kepler and Galileo 32 4 Copernicus was not a Scientific Revolutionary 37 4.1 The Copernican method 39 4.2 The relativity of motion 42 5 The Transition to Newton 43 5.1 On hypotheses 45 6 Some Philosophical Lessons 47 6.1 The loss of centrality 48 6.2 Was Copernicus a realist? 51 6.2.1 Lessons for instrumentalism and realism 52 6.3 Modern realism 55 6.4 The underdetermination of theories by evidence 58 6.4.1 The Duhem-Quine thesis 59 6.4.2 The power of constraints 61 6.5 Theories, models, and laws 64 6.5.1 Theories and models 64 6.5.2 Laws of nature, laws of science 68 6.5.3 Philosophical views of laws 69 6.5.3.1 The inference view 69 6.5.3.2 The regularity view 70 6.5.3.3 The necessitarian view 73 6.5.3.4 The structural view 75 7 Copernicus and Scientific Revolutions 77 8 The Anthropic Principle: A Reversal of the Copernican Turn? 83 Reading List 87 E...
List of contents
General Introduction.
I. Nicolaus Copernicus: The Loss of Centrality.
I. 1 Ptolemy and Copernicus.
I. 2 A Clash of two Worldviews.
I. 3 The Heliocentric Worldview.
I. 4 Copernicus was not a Scientific Revolutionary.
I. 5 The Transition to Newton.
I. 6 Some Philosophical Lessons.
I. 7 Copernicus and Scientific Revolutions.
I. 8 The Anthropic Principle: A Reversal of the Copernican Turn?.
II. Charles Darwin: The Loss of Rational Design.
II. 1 Darwin and Copernicus.
II. 2 Views of Organic Life.
II. 3 Fossil Discoveries.
II. 4 Darwin's Revolution.
II. 5 Philosophical Matters.
II. 5.2 From Biology to the Philosophy of Mind.
II. 5. 3 The Loss of Rational Design.
II. 5.4 Intelligent Design.
II. 6 A Question of Method.
II. 6.1 Darwinian Inferences.
II. 6. 2 Philosophical Empiricism.
II. 6. 3 Some Principles of Elimination.
II. 6.4 Essential Features of Eliminative Inductivism.
II. 6.5 Falsifiability or Testability?.
II. 6.6 Explanation and Prediction.
II. 6.6 Some Models of Explanation - Functional Model, Causal Model, Structural Model.
II. 6. 7 A Brief Return to Realism.
II. 6. 8 Darwin and Scientific Revolutions.
II. 6. 8. 1 Philosophical Consequences.
III. Freud: The Loss of Transparency.
III. 1 Copernicus, Darwin and Freud.
III. 2 Some Views of Humankind.
III. 3 Scientism and the Freudian Model of Personality.
III. 4 The Social Sciences beyond Freud.
III. 5 Evolution and the Social Sciences.
III. 6 Freud and Revolutions in Thought.
Essay Questions
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"Whether used as a textbook or as a review of issues concerning scientific revolutions and theory change in their historical context, Copernicus, Darwin, and Freud may be strongly recommended." (The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, 2011)
"Those seeking a more conventional approach to the history and philosophy of science may well find Weinert s book informative...there is much to be learned from Weinert s comparison of Copernicus, Darwin, and Freud." ( Science & Education , January 2011)
