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eBook - PDF
Understanding How Science Explains the World
About this book
All people desire to know. We want to not only know what has happened, but also why it happened, how it happened, whether it will happen again, whether it can be made to happen or not happen, and so on. In short, what we want are explanations. Asking and answering explanatory questions lies at the very heart of scientific practice. The primary aim of this book is to help readers understand how science explains the world. This book explores the nature and contours of scientific explanation, how such explanations are evaluated, as well as how they lead to knowledge and understanding. As well as providing an introduction to scientific explanation, it also tackles misconceptions and misunderstandings, while remaining accessible to a general audience with little or no prior philosophical training.
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Yes, you can access Understanding How Science Explains the World by Kevin McCain in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Philosophy & Ethics in Science. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half-title page
- Series page
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Why Explanation Matters in Science
- 2 The General Nature of Explanation
- 3 Specific Kinds of Scientific Explanations
- 4 Explanation and Prediction
- 5 Evaluating Explanations
- 6 Explanatory Quality and Felt Understanding
- 7 False Theories, But Accurate Explanations?
- 8 From Explanation to Knowledge
- Concluding Remarks
- Summary of Common Misunderstandings
- References and Further Reading
- Figure Credits
- Index