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Ernst Mach’s World Elements

A Study in Natural Philosophy

  • Book
  • © 2003

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Authors:
  1. Erik C. Banks
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Part of the book series: The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science (WONS, volume 68)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 1-16

  3. The Viennese Background

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 17-26

  4. A New Theory of Matter

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 27-46

  5. Herbart’s Metaphysics

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 47-70

  6. Mach on Space Sensations

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 71-76

  7. Mach and Riemann

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 77-90

  8. Fechner and the Inner Side of Nature

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 91-102

  9. From Sensations to World Elements: Neutral Monism

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 103-122

  10. The Economy of Thought

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 123-135

  11. Neutral Monism from Mach to Russell

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 136-161

  12. Politics (and Physics) in Prague

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 162-179

  13. The Perpetual Motion Principle in Mechanics

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 180-192

  14. Mach’s Definitions of Mass and Inertia

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 193-208

  15. The Wärmelehre

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 209-224

  16. Mach’s Late View of Space and Natural Philosophy

    • Erik C. Banks
    Pages 225-248

  17. Back Matter

    Pages 249-292
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Keywords

About this book

Ernst Mach (1838-1916) was a seminal philosopher-scientist and a deserving member of the canon of major twentieth-century thinkers. Yet, despite a healthy resurgence in Mach studies, he is still widely thought to represent a simplistic positivist, even sensationalist, position that does not at all reflect the depth of Mach's interests and subtlety as a philosopher. By exploring Mach's views on science as well as philosophy, this book attempts to wrest him free from his customary association with logical positivism and to reinterpret him on his own terms as a natural philosopher and naturalist about human knowledge. Mach's development and his influences from 19th century German philosophy and science are probed in great conceptual and historical detail, and attention is paid to his unpublished Nachlaß as well as to the affinities between Mach's thought and that of other major philosopher-scientists such as Einstein, Bertrand Russell, William James, Helmholtz, Riemann, Herbart and Kant. In particular, the book strives to set forth the true nature of Mach's sensation-elements, the motivations for his critique of the concepts of space and time in physics, and the real meaning of his famous critique of metaphysics. The author's work has appeared in Synthese, Kant-Studien, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics and the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, but here these inquiries are gathered into a unified historico-critical treatment that follows Mach's conceptual development and the culmination of his work in a unique and intriguing natural philosophy. Physicists, psychologists, philosophers of science, historians of twentieth-century thought and culture, and educators will find this volume a valuable help in interpreting Mach's ideas in a context that includes philosophy and science and the bridge between them.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Ernst Mach’s World Elements

  • Book Subtitle: A Study in Natural Philosophy

  • Authors: Erik C. Banks

  • Series Title: The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0175-4

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2003

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4020-1662-2Published: 30 November 2003

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-6444-8Published: 28 October 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-017-0175-4Published: 09 March 2013

  • Series ISSN: 1566-659X

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-1974

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 292

  • Number of Illustrations: 16 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: History of Philosophy, History, general, Philosophy of Science

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