Philosophy of Science: An Overview for Cognitive Science (Tutorial essays in cognitive science)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 152 pages
• Published by: Lawrence Erlbaum
• Edition: 1st Edition April 1, 1988
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0805802215
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0805802214
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Weighs: 9 ounces

Product Review


Although the topics dealt with throughout are complex, Bechtel handles them with a minimum of technical jargon, presenting his exposition so lucidly that his overview may serve as an introduction for the lay public as well as academic researchers.
—Science Books & Films

a remarkably clear and compact history of major philosophical positions over the last sixty years concerning the general nature of science and of scientific explanation: logical positivism and the challenges to it
—CHOICE

of value to students of the philosophies of science and mind.
—The European Journal of Cognitive Psychology

Product Description
This text focuses on two major issues: the nature of scientific inquiry and the relations between scientific disciplines. Designed to introduce the basic issues and concepts in the philosophy of science, Bechtel writes for an audience with little or no philosophical background.

The first part of the book explores the legacy of Logical Positivism and the subsequent post-Positivistic developments in the philosophy of science. The second section looks at arguments for and against using a model of theory reduction to integrate scientific disciplines. The book concludes with a chapter describing non-reductionist approaches for relating scientific disciplines using psycholinguistic and cognitive neuroscience models.