While interest in Kant's philosophy has increased in recent years, very little of it has focused on his theory of science. This book gives a general account of that theory, of its motives and ...implications, and of the way it brought forth a new conception of the nature of philosophical thought.
To reconstruct Kant's theory of science, the author identifies unifying themes of his philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of physics, both undergirded by his distinctive logical doctrines, and shows how they come together to form a relatively consistent system of ideas. A new analysis of the structure of central arguments in theCritique of Pure Reasonand theProlegomenadraws on recent developments in logic and the philosophy of science.
Professor Brittan's unified account of the philosophies of mathematics and physics explores the nature of Kant's commitment to Euclidean geometry and Newtonian mechanics as well as providing an integrated reading of theCritique of Pure Reasonand theMetaphysical Foundations of Natural Science. Contemporary ideas help both to illuminate Kant's position and to show how that position, in turn, illuminates contemporary problems in the philosophy of science.
Originally published in 1978.
ThePrinceton Legacy Libraryuses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
While interest in Kant's philosophy has increased in recent years, very little of it has focused on his theory of science. This book gives a general account of that theory, of its motives and ...implications, and of the way it brought forth a new conception of the nature of philosophical thought.
To reconstruct Kant's theory of science, the author identifies unifying themes of his philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of physics, both undergirded by his distinctive logical doctrines, and shows how they come together to form a relatively consistent system of ideas. A new analysis of the structure of central arguments in the Critique of Pure Reason and the Prolegomena draws on recent developments in logic and the philosophy of science.
Professor Brittan's unified account of the philosophies of mathematics and physics explores the nature of Kant's commitment to Euclidean geometry and Newtonian mechanics as well as providing an integrated reading of the Critique of Pure Reason and the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science . Contemporary ideas help both to illuminate Kant's position and to show how that position, in turn, illuminates contemporary problems in the philosophy of science.
Originally published in 1978.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Explanation and Understanding Brittan, Gordon G.
The Journal of Philosophy,
01/1973, Volume:
70, Issue:
20
Book Review, Journal Article
Peer reviewed
A favorable review of a work concerned with the explanation of human action. The author generalizes this concern by relating it to the philosophy of scientific method and the nature of explanation in ...history and the social sciences. He claims that there is a sharp distinction between the sciences of nature and the study of man. He makes his claims with the customary care, caution, scholarship, and insight. Explanations stated in teleological vocabulary involving nomic ties are termed "quasi-teleolobulary without nomic ties" are termed "quasi-causal." The crucial sections of the book give a detailed development of an "experimentalist" analysis of the concept of causality and a subtle reformulation of the "logical connection" of argument. Several different approaches are suggested for the experimentalist analysis of causality. One has to do with "the problem of asymmetry of cause and effect"; that is, accounting for asymmetry by appealing to temporal relationships. Another approach mentioned establishes the intuitive distinction between nomological and merely accidental natural uniformities. With respect to any pair of states, manipulation of one brings about the presence or absence of the other; and if we can be certain that our intervention was a determinitive factor in causing the change, we have established a genuine causal relationship between them, in that one is the actual cause of the other. With this view, causality is to be analyzed in terms of human interference, in terms of action; therefore, causality cannot be understood until we understand the concept of action. The author suggests that an analysis of causation, in terms of functional dependence, is more appropriate to the theoretical domains of science. Also maintained is the insufficiency of the definition of acts of will with reference to the types of action that they evaluate. The feature of an action that makes it such is the intention with which it is performed. There are only two gaps in the book's argument; however, it is an excellent philosophical reformulation that will serve as a basis for further discussion. V. Tiberia
