Worldviews - an Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science 2E

Richard DeWitt is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Fairfield University. In addition to the history and philosophy of science, Professor DeWitt's research interests include mathematical and philosophical logic, and the philosophy of mind.

List of figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part I: Fundamental Issues 5 1 Worldviews 7 2 Truth 17 3 Empirical Facts and Philosophical/Conceptual Facts 32 4 Confirming and Disconfirming Evidence and Reasoning 38 5 The Quine-Duhem Thesis and Implications for Scientific Method 46 6 Philosophical Interlude: Problems and Puzzles of Induction 58 7 Falsifiability 66 8 Instrumentalism and Realism 71 Part II: The Transition from the Aristotelian Worldview to the Newtonian Worldview 79 9 The Structure of the Universe on the Aristotelian Worldview 81 10 The Preface to Ptolemy's Almagest: The Earth as Spherical, Stationary, and at the Center of the Universe 87 11 Astronomical Data: The Empirical Facts 99 12 Astronomical Data: The Philosophical/Conceptual Facts 106 13 The Ptolemaic System 113 14 The Copernican System 123 15 The Tychonic System 134 16 Kepler's System 137 17 Galileo and the Evidence from the Telescope 148 18 A Summary of Problems Facing the Aristotelian Worldview 164 19 Philosophical and Conceptual Connections in the Development of the New Science 170 20 Overview of the New Science and the Newtonian Worldview 175 21 Philosophical Interlude: What is a Scientifi c Law? 183 22 The Development of the Newtonian Worldview, 1700-1900 192 Part III: Recent Developments in Science and Worldviews 205 23 The Special Theory of Relativity 207 24 The General Theory of Relativity 227 25 Overview of the Empirical Facts, Mathematics, and Interpretations of Quantum Theory 235 26 Quantum Theory and Locality: EPR, Bell's Theorem, and the Aspect Experiments 272 27 Overview of the Theory of Evolution 287 28 Philosophical and Conceptual Implications of Evolution 310 29 Worldviews: Concluding Thoughts 341 Chapter Notes and Suggested Reading 349 References 366 Index 371