The philosopher Patrick Suppes has developed a unique and influential
approach to studying the foundations of science—he combines an
understanding of the main principles of scientific theories in
axiomatic terms and formal models with a hands-on approach. While
moving the study of the philosophy of science out of the parlor and
into the lab, he often comes up with original results from the
psychology of learning to the theory of measurement and quantum
mechanics. This book searches for a common thread in Suppes's
multifaceted work through a series of conversations with the man
himself and illuminates many of the more challenging aspects of his
philosophy.
Roberta Feffario is a researcher in the Institute for Cognitive
Sciences and Technologies of the Italian Research Council. She works
at the Laboratory for Applied Ontology in Trento, Italy.
Viola Schiaffonati is assistant professor in the Dipartimento di
Elettronica e Informazione of the Politecnico di Milano.
- Preface
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Philosopher of the details
- 1.2 Formal methods
- 1.3 Pragmatism
- 1.4 Pluralism
- 1.5 Antireductionism
- 1.6 Organization of the book
- 2. Axiomatization of Theories and Set-theoretical Models
- 2.1 "To axiomatize a theory is to define a set-theoretical predicate"
- 2.2 The structure of scientific theories: not only axioms
- 2.3 Representation and invariance
- 3. Representing Theories
- 3.1 The linguistic perspective
- 3.2 Models and structures
- 4. The Meaning of Formalization
- 4.1 The centrality of formal methods
- 4.2 Formal methods in Suppes' philosophy
- 4.3 Historical and conceptual roots
- 4.4 The sense of formalizing
- 4.5 The context for formalization
- 5. Probabilities and Experiments
- 5.1 Experiments and experimental procedures
- 5.2 Indeterminism and probability
- 6. Epilogue
- References
- Index
November 2012