Philosophy

The Scientific Image

The Scientific Image

  • Downloads：9513
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-10-23 09:55:13
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Bas C. Van Fraassen
  • ISBN：0198244274
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Reviews

Marcelo Lemes ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Li os capítulos 1，2，3，e 5。 Não li os capítulos 4，6 e 7。 Estava mais interessado na questão da "explicação"。 O van Fraassen define sua linha de pensamento como "empirismo construtivo"。O livro é bom。 Acho que o van Fraassen radicaliza no conceito de verdade o que leva quase a uma contradição com a sua visão empirista。 Para ele o conceito de verdade é algo imutável， o que é verdade hoje sempre será verdade。 A realidade da ciência mostra que algo aceito em um determinado momento， ou seja， aceito com Li os capítulos 1，2，3，e 5。 Não li os capítulos 4，6 e 7。 Estava mais interessado na questão da "explicação"。 O van Fraassen define sua linha de pensamento como "empirismo construtivo"。O livro é bom。 Acho que o van Fraassen radicaliza no conceito de verdade o que leva quase a uma contradição com a sua visão empirista。 Para ele o conceito de verdade é algo imutável， o que é verdade hoje sempre será verdade。 A realidade da ciência mostra que algo aceito em um determinado momento， ou seja， aceito como verdade， acaba evoluindo com o tempo por agregação de novos conceitos ou substituição。 Assim algo que é tido como verdadeiro hoje pode não o ser amanhã。 A ideia de uma verdade imutável leva a uma visão metafísica do conceito o que é， em princípio， algo que não cabe na visão empirista。 。。。more

Fizzizist ，

A must read for anyone interested in having a meaningful conversation about scientific realism， truth， and epistemology。

Jhc ，

A book that I wish everyone with a philosophical background interested in science had to read。

Joshua Stein ，

van Fraassen's Scientific Image is one of the most difficult and engaging pieces of philosophy I've read in recent memory。 It provides， at once， a compelling argument for empiricism and， in its conclusion， an odd argument for scientific realism。 The first part of the book， I think， is the most inspired， and was the most engaging for me。 van Fraassen provides a thorough account of much of the literature in physics during the 19th and 20th century， expressing the problematization of its relation t van Fraassen's Scientific Image is one of the most difficult and engaging pieces of philosophy I've read in recent memory。 It provides， at once， a compelling argument for empiricism and， in its conclusion， an odd argument for scientific realism。 The first part of the book， I think， is the most inspired， and was the most engaging for me。 van Fraassen provides a thorough account of much of the literature in physics during the 19th and 20th century， expressing the problematization of its relation to mathematics and its position on hypothetical entities。From a strict concern about literary accessibility， this really isn't something that is going to be of interest to those outside of professional philosophy。 It is written with total disregard for laypeople; he just isn't really trying， and while that works for those graduate students who need to wrestle with some of the eminent philosophy of physics， it is just going to be frustrating and useless to those who are looking for an introduction。 So， don't jump in if that's what you're hunting for。That said， even for graduate students and beyond， this book is something of a riddle， and it doesn't really come together until the end。 van Fraassen's account of empiricism through the first six chapters [the book has seven， total] leaves， for me， a compelling argument for a continued， and more aggressive， discussion of the role of mathematics in contemporary physics， especially with regard to realism about the mathematical representation of posited forces。 It inspires， at least for me， a skeptical position about the role of mathematical representation when we start to talk about quantum mechanics and other areas where so much of the science is based on positing。van Fraassen seems to want to offer a substantive contribution on behalf of a sort of qualified scientific realism in the concluding chapter of the book。 Unfortunately， this is the one part of the book that I found fairly uncompelling。 The conclusions regarding scientific realism， which van Fraassen supports [though the formulation of this is not totally clear; he says he is inheriting it from Smart， which is certainly true for large parts of it] are brought to bear through an analogy with Aquinas' Five Ways that I am， at best， skeptical about。 Perhaps my skepticism is unfairly caused by the scholastic analogue Bas is using; perhaps he simply needed to give himself more time to unpack the argument so that the entirety of his position could be seen。For those who are interested in the hardcore literature in philosophy of science， whether you end up agreeing more-or-less completely with Bas， or disagreeing completely， or are somewhere in the middle [as I am]， the book is an engaging look at one of the areas that is more difficult for contemporary philosophy of science， because it requires a level of mathematical rigor that is difficult to attain。 van Fraassen does a fairly good job at writing some serious philosophy of physics for those with some strength in logics and philosophy of mathematics， as well as providing some good angles on the history of philosophy。 All-and-all， a very narrow， but very interesting read。 。。。more

Brian Beakley ，

I'd practically memorized this book by the end of grad school。 A clever， influential anti-metaphysical account of science。 I'd practically memorized this book by the end of grad school。 A clever， influential anti-metaphysical account of science。 。。。more

Victoria ，

While it wasn't exactly well-written （I felt that the brilliant Bas Van Fraassen could be more concise）， he makes such incredible points that it doesn't matter。 Plod through this book at all costs。 It is that good。 It's not terribly written。 It can just get a little wordy， confusing， and repetitive at points。 But really， what philosopher doesn't fall into that trap？ I think the content of this book more than makes up for any shortcomings in the writing style。 And he does wax poetic in the last c While it wasn't exactly well-written （I felt that the brilliant Bas Van Fraassen could be more concise）， he makes such incredible points that it doesn't matter。 Plod through this book at all costs。 It is that good。 It's not terribly written。 It can just get a little wordy， confusing， and repetitive at points。 But really， what philosopher doesn't fall into that trap？ I think the content of this book more than makes up for any shortcomings in the writing style。 And he does wax poetic in the last chapter， which I thought was nice。 。。。more

Adam ，

profoundly badass at points。 The difference between a good philosopher and a great one seems to me to lie in the ability of great philosophers to not only be competent and achieve interesting and original insights， and defend those， but also to view previous philosophers' work and the object of their inquiry with a brilliant creative eye。 I am not endorsing distortions。 What I mean is that the great philosopher's eye picks up on crucial， key elements and issues that the good philosopher's simply profoundly badass at points。 The difference between a good philosopher and a great one seems to me to lie in the ability of great philosophers to not only be competent and achieve interesting and original insights， and defend those， but also to view previous philosophers' work and the object of their inquiry with a brilliant creative eye。 I am not endorsing distortions。 What I mean is that the great philosopher's eye picks up on crucial， key elements and issues that the good philosopher's simply doesn't。 What's impressive about Bas C。 Van Fraassen， quite aside from his staggeringly awesome name， is that he is able to pick up on concerns that， though in retrospect obviously important， had been somehow ignored or their importance underestimated by those he is critiquing。 Bas C。 Van Fraassen's philosophy [the name's gravitas ensures repetition of it in full]， though very challenging and dense reading， deserves credit not only for its vigor and logic， but for its ability to help us view science in ways we would not have done without reading it first。 Whether he is right or wrong is irrelevant; his work is remarkably useful， and I suspect he will continue to be studied as a prominent philosopher of science for the light he sheds on the issues at hand。 。。。more

Cassie ，

Bas van Fraassen is one of my favorite philosophers of science because he presents his stance as a constructive empiricist， as opposed to scientific realism。 A very convincing argument that gets you thinking and questioning！ One of my favorite classes （philosophy of science） and books I've read in my college career。 A must-read if you like philosophy because philosophy about science applies to your everyday life。 Bas van Fraassen is one of my favorite philosophers of science because he presents his stance as a constructive empiricist， as opposed to scientific realism。 A very convincing argument that gets you thinking and questioning！ One of my favorite classes （philosophy of science） and books I've read in my college career。 A must-read if you like philosophy because philosophy about science applies to your everyday life。 。。。more

Kamili ，

He's a bit of a weirdy。 He's a bit of a weirdy。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Scientific Image

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Scientific Image&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Scientific Image&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0