What is the Point of Reduction in Science?
The numerous and diverse roles of theory reduction in science have been insufficiently explored in the philosophy literature on reduction. Part of the reason for this has been a lack of attention paid to reduction (successional reduction)—although I here argue that this sense of reduction is closer...
| Publicado en: | Erkenntnis Vol. 85; no. 6; pp. 1437 - 1461 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Dec2020
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=146636397&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 146636397 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01650106 5KZ jtl: Erkenntnis issn: 01650106 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2020 vid: 85 iid: 6 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 146636397 10.1007/s10670-018-0085-6 ppf: 1437 ppct: 24 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1005KB tig: atl: What is the Point of Reduction in Science? aug: au: Crowther, Karen affil: Department of Philosophy, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland su: Philosophical literature Search theory Role theory Research teams Philosophy of science sug: subj: Philosophical literature Search theory Role theory Research teams Philosophy of science ab: The numerous and diverse roles of theory reduction in science have been insufficiently explored in the philosophy literature on reduction. Part of the reason for this has been a lack of attention paid to reduction (successional reduction)—although I here argue that this sense of reduction is closer to reduction (explanatory reduction) than is commonly recognised, and I use an account of reduction that is neutral between the two. This paper draws attention to the utility—and incredible versatility—of theory reduction. A non-exhaustive list of various applications of reduction in science is presented, some of which are drawn from a particular case-study, being the current search for a new theory of fundamental physics. This case-study is especially interesting because it employs both senses of reduction at once, and because of the huge weight being put on reduction by the different research groups involved; additionally, it presents some unique uses for reduction—revealing, I argue, the fact that reduction can be of specialised and unexpected service in particular scientific cases. The paper makes two other general findings: that the functions of reduction that are typically assumed to characterise the different forms of the relation may instead be understood as secondary consequences of some other roles; and that most of the roles that reduction plays in science can actually also be fulfilled by a weaker relation than (the typical understanding of) reduction. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Erkenntnis is a copyright of Springer, 2020. All Rights Reserved. item: Erkenntnis holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2020 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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