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Cover image of Scientific Knowledge and Philosophic Thought
Cover image of Scientific Knowledge and Philosophic Thought
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Scientific Knowledge and Philosophic Thought

Harold Himsworth

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Originally published in 1986. Are there two kinds of problems—the scientific and the philosophic—each requiring different methods for solution? Or are there, rather, two different ways of approaching a problem, each yielding a different answer according to the method used? Biomedical researcher Sir Harold Himsworth urges scientists not to shy away from using scientific methods to grapple with problems traditionally accepted as belonging to the province of philosophy.
The difference between science and philosophy lies not in the problems to which they are directed, Himsworth argues, but rather...

Originally published in 1986. Are there two kinds of problems—the scientific and the philosophic—each requiring different methods for solution? Or are there, rather, two different ways of approaching a problem, each yielding a different answer according to the method used? Biomedical researcher Sir Harold Himsworth urges scientists not to shy away from using scientific methods to grapple with problems traditionally accepted as belonging to the province of philosophy.
The difference between science and philosophy lies not in the problems to which they are directed, Himsworth argues, but rather in the methods they use for solving them. To the scientist, a proposition is something to be investigated; to the philosopher, something to be accepted as a basis for thought. Since the development of the scientific method, substantial progress has been made toward mastering problems in the natural environment. If we are ever to attain a degree of control over problems that derive from human activities, Himsworth claims that we only succeed by approaching them in a comparably objective way.

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Slim, elegantly written, and, in the main, tightly argued book.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
130
ISBN
9781421434766
Table of Contents

Foreword
Chapter 1. Methods of Thought
Chapter 2. Experience and Understanding
Chapter 3. Onservations and Hypothese
Chapter 4. The Particular and the General
Chapter 5. Possibility and Certainty
Chapter 6

Foreword
Chapter 1. Methods of Thought
Chapter 2. Experience and Understanding
Chapter 3. Onservations and Hypothese
Chapter 4. The Particular and the General
Chapter 5. Possibility and Certainty
Chapter 6. Imagination and Credibility
Chapter 7. Inference, Induction, and Intuition
Chapter 8. Properties and Values
Chapter 9. Science and Philosophy
Notes
Index

Author Bio
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Harold Himsworth

Sir Harold Himsworth had a distinguished career as a scientist and as a professor of medicine at the University of London. Secretary of the British Medical Research Council from 1949 to 1968, he was also a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society, and a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.