Scientific Concepts and Investigative Practice

Published by De Gruyter 2012

Scientific Concepts and Investigative Practice

Edited by: Uljana Feest and Friedrich Steinle

Volume 3 in the series Berlin Studies in Knowledge Research

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110253610

Overview
Contents

About this book

Recent philosophy and history of science has seen a surge of interest in the role of concepts in scientific research. Scholars working in this new field focus on scientific concepts, rather than theories, as units of analysis and on the ways in which concepts are formed and used rather than on what they represent. They analyze what has traditionally been called the context of discovery, rather than (or in addition to) the context of justification. And they examine the dynamics of research rather than the status of the finished research results.

This volume provides detailed case studies and general analyses to address questions raised by these points, such as:
- Can concepts be clearly distinguished from the sets of beliefs we have about their referents?
- What - if any - sense can be made of the separation between concepts and theories?
- Can we distinguish between empirical and theoretical concepts?
- Are there interesting similarities and differences between the role of concepts in the empirical sciences and in mathematics?
- What underlying notion of investigative practice could be drawn on to explicate the role of concept in such practice?
- From a philosophical point of view, is the distinction between discovery and justification a helpful frame of reference for inquiring into the dynamics of research?
- From a historiographical point of view, does a focus on concepts face the danger of falling back into an old-fashioned history of ideas?

Volume of the new series Berlin Studies in Knowledge Research
Addresses broad range of subjects topical in scientific research
Offers up-to-date orientation for scholars in philosophy of science, history of science, knowledge research, and professionals in the applied sciences

Author / Editor information

Uljana Feest and Friedrich Steinle, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany.

Supplementary Materials

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Scientific Concepts and Investigative Practice: Introduction Uljana Feest and Friedrich Steinle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Concept as Vessel and Concept as Use Vasso Kindi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Rethinking Scientific Concepts for Research Contexts: The Case of the Classical Gene Miles MacLeod Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
The Dynamics of Scientific Concepts: The Relevance of Epistemic Aims and Values Ingo Brigandt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
Goals and Fates of Concepts: The Case of Magnetic Poles Friedrich Steinle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
Mathematical Concepts and Investigative Practice Dirk Schlimm Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Experimentation and the Meaning of Scientific Concepts Theodore Arabatzis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Exploratory Experiments, Concept Formation, and Theory Construction in Psychology Uljana Feest Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Early Concepts in Investigative Practice— The Case of the Virus Corinne L. Bloch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Scientific Concepts in the Engineering Sciences Epistemic Tools for Creating and Intervening with Phenomena Mieke Boon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Modeling Practices in Conceptual Innovation An Ethnographic Study of a Neural Engineering Research Laboratory Nancy J. Nersessian Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Conceptual Development in Interdisciplinary Research Hanne Andersen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
List of Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
Index of Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, Institutes, Libraries
Pages
- Front matter: 6
- Main content: 302
Keywords: Scientific Concepts; Scientific Research; History of Science; Philosophy of Science

eBook

Published: October 30, 2012
ISBN: 9783110253610

Hardcover

Published: October 15, 2012
ISBN: 9783110253603