1st Edition

Routledge Revivals: Science as a Questioning Process

By Nigel Sanitt Copyright 1996
    186 Pages
    by Routledge

    186 Pages
    by Routledge

    First published in 1996, Science as a Questioning Process offers an intriguing mix of science and philosophy by examining science as a questioning process. The book evaluates scientific theories through from Darwinian evolution to relativity, and from quantum theory to cosmology. It offers an examination of these theories, in terms of a trade-off between empirical questions resolved and theoretical questions left unresolved. The book asks questions that deal with both intellectual and public concern about what science tells us and how reliable it is. Through this novel perspective, the book examines science in the context of everyday culture and the role it plays in everyday life. This book will be of interest to anyone working in the fields of philosophy, sociology and science.

    1. Introduction

    1.1. Presuppositions in science

    1.2. Invariance

    1.3. Causality

    2. Theory construction

    2.1. Hierarchies and networks

    2.2. Questioning

    2.3. Theory as a Relationship Between Questions

    3. Graph Theory

    3.1. Introduction

    3.2. Terminology

    3.3. Scientific Theories

    3.4. The Right Questions?

    3.5. Open-endedness of Questions

    3.6. Acyclic Nature of Connections

    4. Theory Evolution

    4.1. Scientific Progress

    4.2. Scientific Explanation

    4.3. Theory Change and Comparison

    4.4. Question Reformulation and ‘Black-Boxing’

    4.5. Demarcation Between Questions and Answers

    5. Subjective Nature of Science

    5.1. Cartesian View of Science

    5.2. Translation from Observations and Concepts to Questions

    5.3. Relation

    5.4. Social Studies of Science

    5.5. Scientometrics

    6. Evolution and Intelligence

    6.1. Evolution of Questioning Ability

    6.2. Computer Simulation and Artificial Intelligence

    6.3. Neural Nets

    6.4. Curiosity

    6.5. Structuralism

    7. Theories and Questions

    7.1. Quantum Mechanics

    7.2. Relativity

    7.3. Zetetic Analysis

    8. Theories in the Making

    8.1. Dark Matter

    8.2. Anthropic Principle

    8.3. Theory of Everything

    9. Darwinian Evolution

    9.1. Introduction

    9.2. Darwin’s Theory

    9.3. The Extended Phenotype

    10. Literature and Science

    10.1. Introduction

    10.2. Fictional Entities

    10.3. Scientific Entities

    10.4. Fictional and Scientific Entities: A Comparison

    10.5. Beauty

    10.6. Scientific Metaphor

    10.7. Explanation and Understanding

    10.8. Interrogative Aspects of Literature

    11. Epilogue

    Biography

    Nigel Sanitt