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Understanding Philosophy of Science

Author: James Ladyman
Publisher: Routledge
Category: Book

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

7 reviews
Sales Rank: 26530

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 302
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7

ISBN: 0415221579
Dewey Decimal Number: 501
EAN: 9780415221573
ASIN: 0415221579

Publication Date: February 1, 2008
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Also Available In:

•	Library Binding - Understanding Philosophy of Science

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Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

An excellent book for a wide readership January 11, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Having studied philosophy at university many years ago I found this book provided a superb re-introduction to an area that I'd always had some interest in but not focused on at the time.

The first half provides as clear and concise accounts of demarcation, inductivism, falsification and epistemology as will be found anywhere; Hume, Popper, Kuhn at al are all covered in a very clear and precise style. The second half updated my knowledge of the field considerably with developments in underdetermination and theory change that have taken place since my degree. I'll admit that I didn't find all of these areas straightforward but that was by no means a reflection on the quality of the writing but rather on the challenges of the subject matter. Ladyman has produced an excellent introduction to the subject for the undergraduate or layman that also manages to deal admirably with some of the complexities a post-graduate student would have to tackle.

2 out of 5 stars

The future of academic philosophy? May 22, 2007
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

This book is one of many introductions to this particular area of philosophy. As such it does a reasonable job at introducing students to a (non-exhaustive) set of questions. The question is: do we need more standardized, unoriginal introductions like this? It's not obvious at all that the best way to advance a discipline, and to get students interested in questioning received wisdoms, is to expose them to the *same* questions in exactly the *same* way, using the *same* examples like myriads of other introductory books before and, presumably, thereafter. In this sense, the book is profoundly disappointing.

5 out of 5 stars

An Excellent Foundation for Study January 23, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

An excellent aid to a student of Philosophy of Science. Interesting, engaging and insightful, this text delivers a good all round familiarisation with the subject matter.

I would recommend it to any degree level student reading Philosophy of Science.

5 out of 5 stars

An excellent introduction October 1, 2004
6 out of 14 found this review helpful

An excellent introduction to the philosophy of science: clear, accessible, well-written and challenging. Should be read by every student of the subject.

1 out of 5 stars

Epistemological meltdown August 8, 2004
8 out of 22 found this review helpful

This book is further evidence of academic overpublication and the proliferation of RAE-driven works. There's just nothing new here. Suffer the forests...