New Mechanism: Explanation, Emergence and Reduction (History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences, 35) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 303146916X ISBN 13: 9783031469169

Publisher: Springer, 2023

Synopsis

This open access book addresses the epistemological and ontological significance as well as the scope of new mechanism. In particular, this book addresses the issues of what is "new" about new mechanism, the epistemological and ontological reasons underlying the adoption of mechanistic instead of other modelling strategies as well as the possibility of mechanistic explanation to accommodate a non-trivial notion of emergence. Arguably, new mechanism has been particularly successful in making sense of scientific practice in the molecular life sciences. But what about other sciences? This book enlarges the context of analysis, addressing the issue of the putative compatibility between the current ways of conceiving new mechanism and actual scientific practices in quantum physics, chemistry, biochemistry, developmental biology and the cognitive sciences.

About this title

About the Author

Joćo L. Cordovil is a Researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and the Scientific Coordinator of the Center for Philosophy of Science of the University of Lisbon. His primary research fields are the Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, Ontic Structural Realism and theory of emergence.

Gil Santos obtained his Ph.D. at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. As an Assistant Researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, he is currently working on his FCT research project ‘Relational Emergence, Causation and Explanation’.

Davide Vecchi obtained the Ph.D. at the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method of the London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom). Davide is interested in historical, philosophical and theoretical issues in molecular biology.

From the Back Cover

This open access book addresses the epistemological and ontological significance as well as the scope of new mechanism. In particular, this book addresses the issues of what is "new" about new mechanism, the epistemological and ontological reasons underlying the adoption of mechanistic instead of other modelling strategies as well as the possibility of mechanistic explanation to accommodate a non-trivial notion of emergence. Arguably, new mechanism has been particularly successful in making sense of scientific practice in the molecular life sciences. But what about other sciences? This book enlarges the context of analysis, addressing the issue of the putative compatibility between the current ways of conceiving new mechanism and actual scientific practices in quantum physics, chemistry, biochemistry, developmental biology and the cognitive sciences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 303146916X
• ISBN 13: 9783031469169
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 284
• Editor: Cordovil Joćo L., Santos Gil, Vecchi Davide