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  • Smoke and Mirrors: How Science Reflects Reality

    Smoke and Mirrors by Brown, James Robert;

    How Science Reflects Reality

    Series: Philosophical Issues in Science;

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      • Publisher's listprice GBP 39.99
      • The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.

        19 105 Ft (18 195 Ft + 5% VAT)
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    19 105 Ft

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    Availability

    Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
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    Product details:

    • Edition number 1
    • Publisher Routledge
    • Date of Publication 3 February 1994

    • ISBN 9780415091817
    • Binding Paperback
    • No. of pages212 pages
    • Size 216x138 mm
    • Weight 390 g
    • Language English
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    Short description:

    In response to recent critics, this is a vigorous defence of realism. The roles of abstraction, abstract objects and a priori methods are explored, demonstrating the ways in which science mirrors the world.

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    Long description:

    Realism is an enlightening story, a tale which enriches our experience and makes it more intelligible. Yet this wonderful picture of humanity's best efforts at knowledge has been badly bruised by numerous critics. James Robert Brown in Smoke and Mirrors fights back against figures such as Richard Rorty, Bruno Latour, Michael Ruse and Hilary Putnam who have attacked realist accounts of science.
    But this volume is not wholly devoted to combating Rorty and others who blow smoke in our eyes; the second half is concerned with arguing that there are some amazing ways in which science mirrors the world. The role of abstraction, abstract objects and a priori ways of getting at reality are all explored in showing how science reflects reality.
    Smoke and Mirrors is a defence of science and knowledge in general as well as a defence of a particular way of understanding science. It is of interest to all those who wish or need to know how science works.

    'This spirited and readable contribution to the debates over scientific realism would serve splendidly as the core of an introduction to the philosophy of science.' - J.B. Kennedy, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

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    Table of Contents:

    Preface, Acknowledgements, I. Introduction, 1. Explaining the success of science, II. Smoke, 2. Rorty’s Solidarity, 3. Latour’s prosaic science, 4. The naturalism of Ruse, 5. Putnam’s verification, III. Mirrors, 6. Knowledge—in the abstract, 7. Phenomena, 8. What is the vector potential?, 9. Proof and truth in the abstract realm, Bibliography, Index

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