The essays in this volume concern the points of intersection between analytic philosophy and the philosophy of the exact sciences. More precisely, it concern connections between knowledge in mathematics and the exact sciences, on the one hand, and the conceptual foundations of knowledge in general. Its guiding idea is that, in contemporary philosophy of science, there are profound problems of theoretical interpretation-- problems that transcend both the methodological concerns of general philosophy of science, and the technical concerns of philosophers of particular sciences. A fruitful approach to these problems combines the study of scientific detail with the kind of conceptual analysis that is characteristic of the modern analytic tradition. Such an approach is shared by these contributors: some primarily known as analytic philosophers, some as philosophers of science, but all deeply aware that the problems of analysis and interpretation link these fields together.
Analysis and Interpretation in the Exact Sciences
THE WESTERN ONTARIO SERIES IN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE A SERIES OF BOOKS IN PHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCE, HISTORY OF SCIENCE, HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, EPISTEMOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE, GAME AND DECISION THEORY
Managing Editor WILLIAM DEMOPOULOS
Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, Canada Assistant Editors DAVID DEVIDI
Philosophy of Mathematics, University of Waterloo ROBERT DISALLE
Philosophy of Physics and History and Philosophy of Science, University of Western Ontario WAYNE MYRVOLD
Foundations of Physics, University of Western Ontario Editorial Board University of Western Ontario Hebrew University of Jerusalem JEFFREY BUB, University of Maryland PETER CLARK, St. Andrews University JACK COPELAND, University of Canterbury, New Zealand JANET FOLINA, Macalester College MICHAEL FRIEDMAN, Stanford University CHRISTOPHER A. FUCHS, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario MICHAEL HALLETT, McGill University WILLIAM HARPER, University of Western Ontario CLIFFORD A. HOOKER, University of Newcastle, Australia AUSONIO MARRAS, University of Western Ontario JÜRGEN MITTELSTRASS, Universität Konstanz THOMAS UEBEL, University of Manchester JOHN L. BELL,
YEMINA BEN-MENAHEM,
VOLUME 78
Mélanie Frappier · Derek H. Brown · Robert DiSalle Editors
Analysis and Interpretation in the Exact Sciences Essays in Honour of William Demopoulos
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Editors Mélanie Frappier University of King’s College History of Science and Technology Programme 6350 Coburg Rd. Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2A1 Canada
[email protected]
Derek H. Brown Brandon University Department of Philosophy 270 18th St. Brandon, Manitoba R7A 6A9 Canada
[email protected]
Robert DiSalle University of Western Ontario Department of Philosophy London, Ontario N6A 5B8 Canada
[email protected]
ISSN 1566-659X ISBN 978-94-007-2581-2 e-ISBN 978-94-007-2582-9 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2582-9 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011944515 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplie