Why beliefs matter
Subtitle: reflections on the nature of science
By: E. Brian Davies
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 250
ISBN-13: 9780199586202
Subjects: Religion and science; Mathematics; Philosophy
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The scientific revolution. Early memories ; The scientific method ; The new astronomy ; The mechanical philosophy ; The impact of technology ; The laws of motion ; Universal gravitation ; Induction; title: The human condition. The arrow of time ; Reductionism ; Determinism ; The mind-body problem ; The blank slate theory ; Plato, Popper, Penrose; title: The nature of mathematics. an early influence ; Pluralism in mathematics ; Mathematical platonism ; What is mathematics? ; The infinite ; The mathematical brain ; The Mandelbrot set ; The mathematical consensus ; The argument from physics ; Mathematical truth ; Is our mathematics inevitable? ; The irrelevance of Platonism; title: Sense and nonsense. Fundamental constants ; Panspermia ; The standard model ; A philosophical digression ; The multiverse ; In praise of observation ; Machine intelligence ; Simulated universes ; Discussion; title: Science and religion. Varieties of belief ; The anthropic principle ; The existence of God ; God's nature and acts ; Life after death ; Keith Ward.