| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £4.15
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Science: Key Concepts in Philosophy for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £4.15, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"In this volume, the author provides a succinct and approachable introduction to the field of philosophy of science. The book is written without assuming its readers have any philosophical training. Its style is casual, with plenty of examples and humor yet, importantly, "Science" gets across the technical details of some of the most central and influential philosophical positions, concepts, and arguments of the field. Because it is both short and extremely easy to read, this volume provides ideal supplementary material for those engaging the primary textbooks of this field for the first time. I have used it more than once for an introductory course in the philosophy of science, and it has worked well in this role. For my students, this book made for a welcome and helpful contrast to those volumes in terms of tone and approachability. Although other more cumbersome textbooks force instructors to structure their courses in a certain way, French's publication instead complements a course structured by primary works. In short, Science is an admirably concise and accessible basic introduction to the philosophy of science, one which enables its readers to go on to tackle more esoteric and dense primary philosophical textbooks."The Quarterly Review of Biology, September 2009
Product Description
The philosophical questions raised by the history and practice of science are among the most complex and stimulating. The philosophy of science inquires into such matters as scientific reasoning, scientific explanation, the nature and value of scientific knowledge, progress in science, and the debate between realist and anti-realist views of science. Science: Key Concepts in Philosophy is the ideal first stop for the student wishing to get to grips with this challenging subject. Written with the specific needs of students new to the discipline in mind, it covers the work of key thinkers and outlines clearly the central questions, problems and arguments encountered in studying the philosophy of science. The book considers such fundamentals as discovery, evidence, verification and falsification, realism and objectivity. It also draws on specific examples from the history of science to further illuminate the philosophical questions addressed. This is a practical and informative introduction to a major component of the undergraduate philosophy curriculum, as well as being a support to ongoing study.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Quite Good
20 Mar 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I generally agree with James Ladyman's highly favorable review on the back cover of the book. This book is among the best introductions to the philosophy of science that I've run across so far.
French has a pleasantly informal and chatty writing style and starts the book fairly gently in the earlier chapters, so this book should be quite accessible for the motivated general reader; that's no small accomplishment for a subject as tough as philosophy of science. And the last few chapters venture into more sophisticated material, so the book can also benefit readers who already have some background in the subject.
An added plus is that French draws examples from many branches of science, and he explains these examples clearly, so the book provides some education in science itself as a fringe benefit.
Overall, I can highly recommend the book to anyone interested in philosophy of science, ranging from beginners seeking an introduction to old hats seeking a review. Some prior background in philosophy and/or science would be a definite plus, but isn't absolutely mandatory.
French has a pleasantly informal and chatty writing style and starts the book fairly gently in the earlier chapters, so this book should be quite accessible for the motivated general reader; that's no small accomplishment for a subject as tough as philosophy of science. And the last few chapters venture into more sophisticated material, so the book can also benefit readers who already have some background in the subject.
An added plus is that French draws examples from many branches of science, and he explains these examples clearly, so the book provides some education in science itself as a fringe benefit.
Overall, I can highly recommend the book to anyone interested in philosophy of science, ranging from beginners seeking an introduction to old hats seeking a review. Some prior background in philosophy and/or science would be a definite plus, but isn't absolutely mandatory.
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
