Instrumental Biology, or The Disunity of Science (Science and Its Conceptual Foundations series)
Book Details
Author(s)
Alexander Rosenberg
Publisher
University Of Chicago Press
ISBN / ASIN
0226727262
ISBN-13
9780226727264
Availability
Usually ships in 24 hours
Sales Rank
#2,968,188
Marketplace
United States 🇺🇸
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Description
Do the sciences aim to uncover the structure of nature, or are they ultimately a practical means of controlling our environment?
In Instrumental Biology, or the Disunity of Science, Alexander Rosenberg argues that while physics and chemistry can develop laws that reveal the structure of natural phenomena, biology is fated to be a practical, instrumental discipline. Because of the complexity produced by natural selection, and because of the limits on human cognition, scientists are prevented from uncovering the basic structure of biological phenomena. Consequently, biology and all of the disciplines that rest upon it—psychology and the other human sciences—must aim at most to provide practical tools for coping with the natural world rather than a complete theoretical understanding of it.
In Instrumental Biology, or the Disunity of Science, Alexander Rosenberg argues that while physics and chemistry can develop laws that reveal the structure of natural phenomena, biology is fated to be a practical, instrumental discipline. Because of the complexity produced by natural selection, and because of the limits on human cognition, scientists are prevented from uncovering the basic structure of biological phenomena. Consequently, biology and all of the disciplines that rest upon it—psychology and the other human sciences—must aim at most to provide practical tools for coping with the natural world rather than a complete theoretical understanding of it.
