Screen LibraryThe found and the made : science, reason, and the reality of nature /
This book critically examines how mathematical modeling shapes and limits a scientific approach to the natural world and affects how society views nature. It questions concepts such as determinism, reversibility, equilibrium, and the isolated system, and challenges the view of physical reality as pa...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Published: |
Routledge, Taylor & francis Group,
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| Publisher Address: | Abingdon, Oxon : |
| Publication Dates: |
2017. ©2016 |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
This book critically examines how mathematical modeling shapes and limits a scientific approach to the natural world and affects how society views nature. It questions concepts such as determinism, reversibility, equilibrium, and the isolated system, and challenges the view of physical reality as passive and inert. Dan Bruiger argues that if nature is real, it must transcend human representations. In particular, it can be expected to self-organize in ways that elude a mechanist treatment. This interdisciplinary study addresses several key areas: the "crisis"in modern physics and cosmology; the limits and historical, psychological, and religious roots of mechanistic thought; and the mutual effects of the scientific worldview upon society's relationship to nature. Bruiger demonstrates that there is still little place outside biology for systems that actively self-organize or self-define. Instead of appealing to "multiverses"to resolve the mysteries of fine-tuning, he suggests that cosmologists look toward self-organizing processes. He also states that physics is hampered by its external focus and should become more self-reflective. If scientific understanding can go beyond a stance of prediction and control, it could lead to a relationship with nature more amenable to survival. The Found and the Made fills a void between popular science writing and philosophy. It will appeal to naturalists, environmentalists, science buffs, professionals, and students of cultural history, evolutionary psychology, gender studies, and philosophy of mind. -- Provided by publisher. |
| Carrier Form: | xx, 311 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781412862509 1412862507 |
| Index Number: | Q175 |
| CLC: | O242.1 |
| Call Number: | O242.1/B892 |
| Contents: | Preamble: The Barcode of Nature -- Part One: The World as Found -- What Is Found? -- What Is Nature? -- What Is Science? -- Law, Chance, and Necessity -- Mathematical and Physical Reality -- Part Two: The World Remade -- Consciousness and Its Consequences -- What It Is Like to Be an Intentional System -- The Rebellion against Nature -- The Ideal of Perfect Knowledge -- The Scientific World -- Part Three: Maker's Knowledge -- The Book of Nature -- The Religious Origins of Science -- Deductionism, or the Proof Shall Make You Free -- Ideality -- Is Nature Real? -- Part Four: Beyond the Mechanist Faith -- Is Reality Exhaustible in Thought? -- Mechanism and Organism -- Theories of Something -- The Next Revolution in Physics? -- The Stance of Unknowing. |