Worldviews: an introduction to the history and philosophy of science

List of Figures xvAcknowledgments xixIntroduction 1Part I: Fundamental Issues 51 Worldviews 7Aristotle's Beliefs and the Aristotelian Worldview 7Aristotle's beliefs 8The Aristotelian worldview 12The Newtonian Worldview 12Concluding Remarks 13Evidence 13Common sense 142 Truth 17Preliminary Issues 17Clarifying the Question 18Correspondence Theories of Truth 19Coherence Theories of Truth 20Different versions of coherence theories 20Problems/Puzzles about Correspondence Theories of Truth 22Assessing the accuracy of representations 23The Total Recall scenario 24A word of caution 26Problems/Puzzles for Coherence Theories of Truth 26Philosophical Reflections: Descartes and the Cogito 28Concluding Remarks 293 Empirical Facts and Philosophical/Conceptual Facts 31Preliminary Observations 31A Note on Terminology 34Concluding Remarks 344 Confirming and Disconfirming Evidence and Reasoning 36Confirmation Reasoning 36Disconfirmation Reasoning 37Inductive and Deductive Reasoning 37Concluding Remarks 425 The Quine-Duhem Thesis and Implications for Scientific Method 43The Quine-Duhem Thesis 43Bodies of beliefs and the tribunal of experience 44Crucial experiments 45The underdetermination of theories 46Implications for Scientific Method 47Aristotle's axiomatic approach 48Descartes' axiomatic approach 51Popper's falsificationism 51The hypothetico-deductive method 52Concluding Remarks 536 A Philosophical Interlude: Problems and Puzzles of Induction 54Hume's Problem of Induction 54Hempel's Raven Paradox 57Goodman's Gruesome Problem 59Concluding Remarks 607 Falsifiability 61Basic Ideas 61Complicating Factors 62Concluding Remarks 648 Instrumentalism and Realism 66Prediction and Explanation 66Instrumentalism and Realism 67Concluding Remarks 70Part II: The Transition from the Aristotelian Worldview to the Newtonian Worldview 739 The Structure of the Universe on the Aristotelian Worldview 75The Physical Structure of the Universe 75Conceptual Beliefs about the Universe 77Concluding Remarks 8010 The Preface to Ptolemy's Almagest: The Earth as Spherical, Stationary, and at the Center of the Universe 81The Earth as Spherical 82The Earth as Stationary 84Common-sense arguments 84The argument from objects in motion 86The argument from stellar parallax 88The Earth as the Center of the Universe 90Concluding Remarks 9111 Astronomical Data: The Empirical Facts 92The Movement of the Stars 93The Movement of the Sun 94The Movement of the Moon 95The Movement of the Planets 95Concluding Remarks 9812 Astronomical Data: The Philosophical/Conceptual Facts 99A Scientific Problem with the Motion of the Heavenly Bodies 99Three cautionary notes 102Could This Account Be Used for a Moving Earth? 103Concluding Remarks 10413 The Ptolemaic System 106Background Information 106A Brief Description of the Components of Ptolemy's Treatment of Mars 107The Rationale behind These Components 108Concluding Remarks 11414 The Copernican System 115Background Information 115Overview of the Copernican System 116Comparison of the Ptolemaic and Copernican Systems 117Respecting the facts 117Complexity 118Retrograde motion and other more "natural" explanations 118From a realist standpoint, which system is the more plausible model of the universe? 120What Motivated Copernicus? 121Neoplatonism 121Copernicus' commitment to uniform, circular movement 122The Reception of the Copernican Theory 123Concluding Remarks 12415 The Tychonic System 12516 Kepler's System 128Background Information 128Tycho Brahe's empirical observations 128Tycho and Kepler 129Kepler's System 130What Motivated Kepler? 131Kepler's desire to read the mind of God 132Concluding Remarks 13617 Galileo and the Evidence from the Telescope 138Background Information 138Galileo and the Catholic church 138A note on the nature of the evidence from the telescope 139Galileo's Evidence from the Telescope 141Mountains on the moon 141Sunspots 142The rings, or "ears," of Saturn 142The moons of Jupiter 143The phases of Venus 144The stars 148The Reception of Galileo's Discoveries 148Falsifiability issues 149Concluding Remarks 15218 A Summary of Problems Facing the Aristotelian Worldview 154Problems for the Aristotelian Worldview 154The Need for a New Science 157Concluding Remarks 157A word of caution 15819 Philosophical and Conceptual Connections in the Development of the New Science 159The Size of the Universe 159Concluding Remarks 16220 Overview of the New Science and the Newtonian Worldview 164The New Science 164The three laws of motion 165Universal gravitation 165Overview of the Newtonian Worldview 166Philosophical Reflections: Instrumentalist and Realist Attitudes Toward Newton's Concept of Gravity 168Concluding Remarks 17021 Philosophical Interlude: What Is a Scientific Law? 171Scientific Laws 171Common features associated with scientific laws 172Exceptionless regularities 174Counterfactuals 174Context dependence 176Ceteris paribus clauses 177Concluding Remarks 17822 The Development of the Newtonian Worldview, 1700-1900 179Remarks on the Development of the Major Branches of Science, 1700-1900 179Chemistry 180Biology 181Electromagnetic theory 182General comments 184Minor Clouds 184The Michelson-Morley experiment 184Black body radiation 187Other issues 188Concluding Remarks 190Part III: Recent Developments In Science and Worldviews 19123 The Special Theory of Relativity 193Absolute Space and Absolute Time 193Overview of the Special Theory of Relativity 195The Irresistible Why Question 201Is Special Relativity Self-Contradictory? 201What about their disagreements on what the other clocks read? 204From Joe's point of view 205From Sara's point of view 205Spacetime, Invariants, and the Geometrical Approach to Relativity 206Concluding Remarks 21024 The General Theory of Relativity 211Basic Principles 211The Einstein Field Equations and Predictions of General Relativity 213Philosophical Reflections: General Relativity and Gravity 217Concluding Remarks 21825 Philosophical Interlude: Are (Some) Scientific Theories Incommensurable? 219Preliminary Considerations 219Exploring Incommensurability 221Terminological incommensurability 222Methodological incommensurability 224Different worlds incommensurability 226Discussion: Incommensurability and Scientific Progress 227Concluding Remarks 22926 Introduction to Quantum Theory: Basic Empirical Facts and the Mathematics of Quantum Theory 230Facts, Theory, and Interpretation 230The quantum facts 231Quantum theory itself 231Interpretations of quantum theory 232Some Quantum Facts 232A brief excursion into a reality issue 233Four experiments 235Overview of the Mathematics of Quantum Theory 239Descriptive overview of the mathematics of quantum theory 239If the mathematics of quantum theory is a familiar sort of wave mathematics, why do we often hear that quantum theory is such an unusual theory? 240A somewhat more detailed, but still descriptive, overview of the mathematics of quantum theory 242The evolution of states over time 247Concluding Remarks 24727 The Reality Question: The Measurement Problem and Interpretations of Quantum Theory 248The Measurement Problem 248What is a measurement? 248The role of measurement in Newtonian science 250The role of measurement in quantum theory 250Schroedinger's cat 253The Measurement Problem 255Subjectivity vs. objectivity 255Measurement contexts vs. nonmeasurement contexts 256System vs. apparatus
 macroscopic vs. microscopic levels 256Universality 257Concluding thoughts on the measurement problem 258Interpretations of Quantum Theory 258Collapse interpretations 259Mild measurement-dependent reality 261Moderate measurement-dependent reality 262Radical measurement-dependent reality (consciousness-dependent reality) 262Non-collapse interpretations 263Einstein's realism 263Bohm's realism 265The many-worlds interpretation 267Observations on the interpretations of quantum theory 268Concluding Remarks 27128 Quantum Theory and Locality: EPR, Bell's Theorem, and the Aspect Experiments 272Background Information 272The EPR Thought Experiment 273The argument for (1) 275Bell's Theorem 276Aspect's Experiments 280Locality, Nonlocality, and Spooky Action at a Distance 281Concluding Remarks 28529 Overview of the Theory of Evolution 286Overview of the Basics of Evolutionary Theory 286Darwin's and Wallace's discovery: Evolution by natural selection 286A brief overview of evolutionary theory since Darwin and Wallace 288A word of caution 292Darwin's and Wallace's Paths to Natural Selection 293The development of Darwin's views 293The development of Wallace's views 296Darwin's On the Origin of Species 297The reception of the Origin of Species 299Concluding Remarks 29930 Reflections on Evolution 300Implications for Religion 300Dennett, Dawkins, Weinberg, and others: "no" 301Haught, process philosophy, and process theology 302Discussion 305Morality and Ethics 307Empirical Studies 310The iterated prisoner's dilemma 310The ultimatum game 313Additional notes on cooperation and altruism 315The trust game 316Concluding Remarks 31831 Worldviews: Concluding Thoughts 320Overview 320Reflections on Relativity Theory 322Reflections on Quantum Theory 324Reflections on Evolutionary Theory 325Metaphors 326Chapter Notes and Suggested Reading 329References 349Index 357