Download The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy PDF

The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy

Author: Michael R. Matthews
Publsiher: Hackett Publishing
Total Pages: 180
Release: 1989-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780872200746
Rating: 4.2/5 (7 downloads)

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A supplementary text for courses in the history of modern philosophy, helping to link developments in modern science and modern philosophy.

Download The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy PDF

The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy

Author: Michael R. Matthews
Publsiher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781647920951
Rating: 4.7/5 (29 downloads)

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Download History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: A Personal Story PDF

History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: A Personal Story

Author: Michael R. Matthews
Publsiher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2021
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9811605580
Rating: 4.5/5 (8 downloads)

Download History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: A Personal Story Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This book is an historical narrative of academic appointments, significant personal and collaborative research endeavours, and important editorial and institutional engagements. For forty years Michael Matthews has been a prominent international researcher, author, editor and organiser in the field of 'History, Philosophy and Science Teaching'. He has systematically brought his own discipline training in science, psychology, philosophy of education, and the history and philosophy of science, to bear upon theoretical, curricular and pedagogical issues in science education. The book includes accounts of philosophers who greatly influenced his own thinking and who also were personal friends - Wallis Suchting, Abner Shimony, Robert Cohen, Marx Wartofsky, Israel Scheffler, Michael Martin and Mario Bunge. It advocates the importance of clear writing and avoidance of faddism in both philosophy and in education. It concludes with a proposal for informed and enlightened science teacher education. "Michael Matthews has probably done more for the history and philosophy of science education than anyone else. This book is a riveting read. There are fascinating accounts about the journal Science & Education, the debates over constructivism, and fundamental conceptual issues that lie at the heart of science and science education. This is an essential read for anyone interested in science education." -- Michael J. Reiss, Professor of Science Education, University College London "The work of Michael Matthews in emphasizing the role of history and philosophy of science in science education has been truly monumental. Even more monumental is this much anticipated intellectual biography in which he recalls his early influences and subsequent intellectual encounters within diverse areas, including Catholicism, constructivism, the life and work of Joseph Priestley and the physics of the pendulum." -- Eric Scerri, Chemistry Department, University of California Los Angeles "Matthews records his intellectual maturation and career in a rich personal narrative. It is a fascinating trajectory through the major science educational ideas, trends and upheavals of the last four decades. He remains a sombre voice of reason, of Enlightenment virtues, of liberal education and of sound teacher education and science teaching." -- Roland M. Schulz, Centre for Imagination in Research, Culture and Education, Simon Fraser University.

Download The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy PDF

The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy

Author: Anthony Gottlieb
Publsiher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2016-08-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 163149208X
Rating: 4.2/5 (8 downloads)

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Anthony Gottlieb’s landmark The Dream of Reason and its sequel challenge Bertrand Russell’s classic as the definitive history of Western philosophy. Western philosophy is now two and a half millennia old, but much of it came in just two staccato bursts, each lasting only about 150 years. In his landmark survey of Western philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance, The Dream of Reason, Anthony Gottlieb documented the first burst, which came in the Athens of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Now, in his sequel, The Dream of Enlightenment, Gottlieb expertly navigates a second great explosion of thought, taking us to northern Europe in the wake of its wars of religion and the rise of Galilean science. In a relatively short period—from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution—Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Hume all made their mark. The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story and that of the birth of modern philosophy. As Gottlieb explains, all these men were amateurs: none had much to do with any university. They tried to fathom the implications of the new science and of religious upheaval, which led them to question traditional teachings and attitudes. What does the advance of science entail for our understanding of ourselves and for our ideas of God? How should a government deal with religious diversity—and what, actually, is government for? Such questions remain our questions, which is why Descartes, Hobbes, and the others are still pondered today. Yet it is because we still want to hear them that we can easily get these philosophers wrong. It is tempting to think they speak our language and live in our world; but to understand them properly, we must step back into their shoes. Gottlieb puts readers in the minds of these frequently misinterpreted figures, elucidating the history of their times and the development of scientific ideas while engagingly explaining their arguments and assessing their legacy in lively prose. With chapters focusing on Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Pierre Bayle, Leibniz, Hume, Rousseau, and Voltaire—and many walk-on parts—The Dream of Enlightenment creates a sweeping account of what the Enlightenment amounted to, and why we are still in its debt.

Download Religion and the Challenges of Science PDF

Religion and the Challenges of Science

Author: Richard Feist
Publsiher: Routledge
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2017-11-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351150383
Rating: 4.0/5 (83 downloads)

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Does science pose a challenge to religion and religious belief? This question has been a matter of long-standing debate - and it continues to concern not only scholars in philosophy, theology, and the sciences, but also those involved in public educational policy. This volume provides background to the current 'science and religion' debate, yet focuses as well on themes where recent discussion of the relation between science and religion has been particularly concentrated. The first theme deals with the history of the interrelation of science and religion. The second and third themes deal with the implications of recent work in cosmology, biology and so-called intelligent design for religion and religious belief. The fourth theme is concerned with 'conceptual issues' underlying, or implied, in the current debates, such as: Are scientific naturalism and religion compatible? Are science and religion bodies of knowledge or practices or both? Do religion and science offer conflicting truth claims? By illuminating contemporary discussion in the science-religion debate and by outlining the options available in describing the relation between the two, this volume will be of interest to scholars and to members of the educated public alike.

Download Causation and Laws of Nature in Early Modern Philosophy PDF

Causation and Laws of Nature in Early Modern Philosophy

Author: Walter Ott
Publsiher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2009-09-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199570434
Rating: 4.0/5 (34 downloads)

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Causation and Laws of Nature in Early Modern Philosophy is a study of one of the most important debates in 17th- and 18th-century philosophy: the nature of causation. Ott offers controversial readings of such canonical figures as Descartes, Locke, and Hume, and explores related topics such as intentionality, necessity, and relations.

Download International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching PDF

International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching

Author: Michael R. Matthews
Publsiher: Springer
Total Pages: 2532
Release: 2014-07-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9400776543
Rating: 4.6/5 (43 downloads)

Download International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This inaugural handbook documents the distinctive research field that utilizes history and philosophy in investigation of theoretical, curricular and pedagogical issues in the teaching of science and mathematics. It is contributed to by 130 researchers from 30 countries; it provides a logically structured, fully referenced guide to the ways in which science and mathematics education is, informed by the history and philosophy of these disciplines, as well as by the philosophy of education more generally. The first handbook to cover the field, it lays down a much-needed marker of progress to date and provides a platform for informed and coherent future analysis and research of the subject. The publication comes at a time of heightened worldwide concern over the standard of science and mathematics education, attended by fierce debate over how best to reform curricula and enliven student engagement in the subjects. There is a growing recognition among educators and policy makers that the learning of science must dovetail with learning about science; this handbook is uniquely positioned as a locus for the discussion. The handbook features sections on pedagogical, theoretical, national, and biographical research, setting the literature of each tradition in its historical context. It reminds readers at a crucial juncture that there has been a long and rich tradition of historical and philosophical engagements with science and mathematics teaching, and that lessons can be learnt from these engagements for the resolution of current theoretical, curricular and pedagogical questions that face teachers and administrators. Science educators will be grateful for this unique, encyclopaedic handbook, Gerald Holton, Physics Department, Harvard University This handbook gathers the fruits of over thirty years’ research by a growing international and cosmopolitan community Fabio Bevilacqua, Physics Department, University of Pavia

Download A Theory of Wonder: Evolution, Brain and the Radical Nature of Science PDF

A Theory of Wonder: Evolution, Brain and the Radical Nature of Science

Author: Gonzalo Munévar
Publsiher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2021-09-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1648892825
Rating: 4.2/5 (25 downloads)

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‘A Theory of Wonder’ aims to determine the best way science can satisfy our sense of wonder by exploring the world. Empiricism tells us that science succeeds because it follows the scientific method: Observation passes judgment on Theory – supporting or rejecting it. Much credit is given to the inventor of the method, Galileo, but when historically-minded philosophers of science like Kuhn and Feyerabend called our attention to what Galileo actually wrote and did, we were shocked to find out that Galileo instead drives a dagger through the heart of empiricism; he strikes down the distinction between theory and observation. Plain facts, like the vertical fall of a stone, ruled out the motion of the Earth. To conclude that the stone really falls vertically, however, we must assume that the Earth does not move. If it does move, then the stone only “seems” to fall vertically. Galileo then replaced the “facts” against the motion of the Earth with “facts” that included such motion. This process is typical during scientific revolutions. A good strategy for science is to elaborate radical alternatives; then, and on their basis, reconsider what counts as evidence. Feyerabend was called irrational for this suggestion; but looking at the practice of science from the perspective of evolution and neuroscience shows that the suggestion is very reasonable instead, and, moreover, explains why science works best as a radical form of knowledge. It also leads to a sensible biological form of relative truth, with preliminary drafts leading to exciting discussions with other researchers in the philosophy of science. This book will be of particular interest to university students, instructors and researchers in history or philosophy of science, as well as those with a general interest in the nature of science.

Download Science, Worldviews and Education PDF

Science, Worldviews and Education

Author: Michael Matthews
Publsiher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2009-07-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9048127793
Rating: 4.7/5 (93 downloads)

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This book has its origins in a special issue of the journal Science & Education (Volume 18 Numbers 6–7, 2009). The essay by Costas Skordoulis – ‘Science and Worldviews in the Marxist Tradition’ – did not appear in that special issue due to a mistake in production scheduling. It was published in an earlier issue of the journal (Volume 17 Number 6, 2008), but has been included in this book version of the special issue. As explained in the Introduction, the catalyst for the journal special issue was the essay on ‘Science, Worldviews and Education’ submitted to the journal by Hugh G. Gauch Jr. This was circulated to the other contributors who were asked to write their own contribution in the light of the arguments and literature contained in the paper. Hugh made brief ‘Responses and Clari?cations’ after the papers were written. However the Tanis Edis article on Islam and my own article on Priestley were processed too late to bene?t from Hugh’s appraisal. The journal is associated with the International History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching Group which was formed in 1987. The group stages biennial international conferences and occasional regional conferences (details can be found at www. ihpst. org). The group, though the journal, conferences, and its electronic newsletter (at www. ihpst.

Download Wisdom's Odyssey PDF

Wisdom's Odyssey

Author: Peter A. Redpath
Publsiher: Rodopi
Total Pages: 294
Release: 1997
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9789042001800
Rating: 4.2/5 (18 downloads)

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This book establishes that the ancient Greeks had a prevailing method of doing philosophy which was rooted in philosophical realism. Through extensive historical and philosophical analysis, it demonstrates that this method was challenged in ancient times by an apocryphal notion of philosophy which eventually became confused with philosophical reasoning, and was passed on to posterity through the work of Christian theologians until it was called into question by leading thinkers of the thirteenth century. It shows how this thirteenth-century challenge influenced the growth of the Renaissance humanist movement and how this movement, in turn, passed on to modernity the same apocryphal notion of philosophy as a rhetorical theology of allegorical prefiguration.

Download Science Teaching PDF

Science Teaching

Author: Michael R. Matthews
Publsiher: Routledge
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2015-12-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317796152
Rating: 4.6/5 (52 downloads)

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Science Teaching argues that science teaching and science teacher education can be improved if teachers know something of the history and philosophy of science and if these topics are included in the science curriculum. The history and philosophy of science have important roles in many of the theoretical issues that science educators need to address: what constitutes an appropriate science curriculum for all students; how science should be taught in traditional cultures; how scientific literacy can be promoted; and the conflict which can occur between science curriculum and deep-seated religious or cultural values and knowledge. Outlining the history of liberal approaches to the teaching of science, Michael Matthews elaborates contemporary curriculum developments that explicitly address questions about the nature and the history of science. He provides examples of classroom teaching and develops useful arguments on constructivism, multicultural science education and teacher education.

Download Time for Science Education PDF

Time for Science Education

Author: Michael Matthews
Publsiher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9401139946
Rating: 4.9/5 (46 downloads)

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The book's argument depends, as do most proposals in education, upon cer tain positions in the philosophy of education. I believe that education should be primarily concerned with developing understanding, with initiation into worth while traditions of intellectual achievement, and with developing capacities for clear, analytic and critical thought. These have been the long-accepted goals of liberal education. In a liberal education, students should come to know and appre ciate a variety of disciplines, know them at an appropriate depth, see the interconnectedness of the disciplines, or the modes of thought, and finally have some critical disposition toward what is being learned, to be genuinely open minded about intellectual things. These liberal goals are contrasted with goals such as professional training, job preparation, promotion of self-esteem, social engineering, entertainment, or countless other putative purposes of schooling that are enunciated by politicians, administrators, and educators. The book's argument might be consistent with other views of education especially ones about the training of specialists (sometimes called a professional view of education)-but the argument fits best with a liberal view of education. The liberal hope has always been that if education is done well, then other per sonal and social goods will follow. The development of informed, critical, and moral capacities is the cornerstone for personal and social achievements.

Download Religion and Science: An Introduction PDF

Religion and Science: An Introduction

Author: Brendan Sweetman
Publsiher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2009-12-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1847060153
Rating: 4.0/5 (53 downloads)

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Download Hume's Natural Philosophy and Philosophy of Physical Science PDF

Hume's Natural Philosophy and Philosophy of Physical Science

Author: Matias Slavov
Publsiher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2020-10-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350087882
Rating: 4.7/5 (82 downloads)

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This book contextualizes David Hume's philosophy of physical science, exploring both Hume's background in the history of early modern natural philosophy and its subsequent impact on the scientific tradition. Drawing on Cartesian cosmology and Einstein's special relativity, and taking in topics including experimentalism, causation, laws of nature, metaphysics of forces, mathematics' relation to nature, and the concepts of space and time, this book deepens our understanding of Hume's relation to natural philosophy. It does so in addition by situating Hume's thought within the context of other major philosophers and scientists, including Descartes, Locke, Boyle, Kant, Newton, and Leibniz. Demonstrating above all Hume's understanding of the fluid relationship between philosophy and science, Hume's Natural Philosophy and Philosophy of Physical Science will provide new insights for historians and philosophers of science.

Download Constructivism in Science Education PDF

Constructivism in Science Education

Author: Michael Matthews
Publsiher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 940115032X
Rating: 4.0/5 (2 downloads)

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Constructivism is one of the most influential theories in contemporary education and learning theory. It has had great influence in science education. The papers in this collection represent, arguably, the most sustained examination of the theoretical and philosophical foundations of constructivism yet published. Topics covered include: orthodox epistemology and the philosophical traditions of constructivism; the relationship of epistemology to learning theory; the connection between philosophy and pedagogy in constructivist practice; the difference between radical and social constructivism, and an appraisal of their epistemology; the strengths and weaknesses of the Strong Programme in the sociology of science and implications for science education. The book contains an extensive bibliography. Contributors include philosophers of science, philosophers of education, science educators, and cognitive scientists. The book is noteworthy for bringing this diverse range of disciplines together in the examination of a central educational topic.

Download Locke: A Guide for the Perplexed PDF

Locke: A Guide for the Perplexed

Author: Patricia Sheridan
Publsiher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2010-04-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0826489842
Rating: 4.9/5 (42 downloads)

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A concise and coherent overview of Locke, ideal for second- or third-year undergraduates who require more than just a simple introduction to his thought.

Download Feng Shui: Teaching About Science and Pseudoscience PDF

Feng Shui: Teaching About Science and Pseudoscience

Author: Michael R. Matthews
Publsiher: Springer
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2019-07-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030188221
Rating: 4.8/5 (21 downloads)

Download Feng Shui: Teaching About Science and Pseudoscience Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This book provides a richly documented account of the historical, cultural, philosophical and practical dimensions of feng shui. It argues that where feng shui is entrenched educational systems have a responsibility to examine its claims, and that this examination provides opportunities for students to better learn about the key features of the nature of science, the demarcation of science and non-science, the characteristics of pseudoscience, and the engagement of science with culture and worldviews. The arguments presented for feng shui being a pseudoscience can be marshalled when considering a whole range of comparable beliefs and the educational benefit of their appraisal. Feng shui is a deeply-entrenched, three-millennia-old system of Asian beliefs and practices about nature, architecture, health, and divination that has garnered a growing presence outside of Asia. It is part of a comprehensive and ancient worldview built around belief in chi (qi) the putative universal energy or life-force that animates all existence, the cosmos, the solar system, the earth, and human bodies. Harmonious living requires building in accord with local chi streams; good health requires replenishment and manipulation of internal chi flow; and a beneficent afterlife is enhanced when buried in conformity with chi directions. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on the proper manipulation of internal chi by acupuncture, tai-chi and qigong exercise, and herbal dietary supplements. Matthews has produced another tour de force that will repay close study by students, scientists, and all those concerned to understand science, culture, and the science/culture nexus. Harvey Siegel, Philosophy, University of Miami, USA With great erudition and even greater fluidity of style, Matthews introduces us to this now-world-wide belief system. Michael Ruse, Philosophy, Florida State University, USA The book is one of the best research works published on Feng Shui. Wang Youjun, Philosophy, Shanghai Normal University, China The history is fascinating. The analysis makes an important contribution to science literature. James Alcock, Psychology, York University, Canada This book provides an in-depth study of Feng Shui in different periods, considering its philosophical, historical and educational dimensions; especially from a perspective of the ‘demarcation problem’ between science and pseudoscience. Yao Dazhi, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China