Philosophy of Science: The Key Thinkers

James Robert Brown is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, Canada. His previous publications include The Rational and the Social (Routledge, 1989), Smoke and Mirrors: How Science Reflects Reality (Routledge, 1994), Philosophy of Mathematics (Routledge, Second Edition 2008) and The Laboratory of the Mind (Routledge, Second Edition 2009).

• 1. Introduction James Robert Brown; 2. Experience and Necessity: Whewell and Mill Laura Snyder; 3. Conventionalism: Poincare, Duhem, Reichenbach; 4. The Vienna Circle: Carnap and Neurath Alan Richardson; 5. Logical Empiricism: Hempel and Quine Martin Curd; 6. Induction and Falsification: Popper Steve Fuller; 7. Historical Approaches: Kuhn, Lakatos and Feyerabend Martin Carrier; 8. Sociology of Science: Bloor, Collins, Latour Martin Kusch; 9. Realism: Putnam and van Fraassen Stathis Psillos; 10. Beyond Theories: Hacking and Cartwright; 11. Feminist Critiques: Harding and Longino Janet Kourany; 12. Current Trends James Robert Brown; Further Reading; Index.

This book delivers twice on its title: it offers a comprehensive discussion of key thinkers in philosophy of science of the past 150 years and the authors are a dozen of their most distinguished and innovative successors at work today. The result shows a vibrant discipline in which each generation reflects on—and moves beyond—the classic debates. An insightful and inspiring survey of philosophy of science, its history, and its progress.