Unsimple truths : science, complexity, and policy / Sandra D. Mitchell.

  • Mitchell, Sandra D., 1951-
Date:
2009
  • Books

About this work

Description

"The world is complex, but acknowledging its complexity requires an appreciation for the many roles context plays in shaping natural phenomena. In Unsimple Truths, Sandra Mitchell argues that the long-standing scientific and philosophical deference to reductive explanations founded on simple universal laws, linear causal models, and predict-and-act strategies fails to accommodate the kinds of knowledge that many contemporary sciences are providing about the world. She advocates, instead, for a new understanding that represents the rich, variegated, interdependent fabric of many levels and kinds of explanation that are integrated with one another to ground effective prediction and action.".

Publication/Creation

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2009.

Physical description

x, 149 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Contents

Case of Complexity -- Shifting Paradigms in Epistemology -- Emergence versus Reduction -- Kim's Analysis -- Scientific Emergence -- Does Biology Have Laws? -- Contingency versus Natural Necessity -- Necessity, Possibility, and the Contingent Universe -- Knockout Experiments -- Redundancy and Robustness -- Interventionist Causes and Modularity -- Robustness in Scenario Analysis -- Case of Genetically Modified Food -- Precautionary Principle -- Integrated Multilevel Explanation -- Pragmatic Considerations -- Dynamic Perspectives.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    History of Medicine
    AAB /MIT
    Open shelves

Permanent link

Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9780226532622
  • 0226532623