Discovery and Decision
Subtitle: Exploring the Metaphysics and Epistemology of Scientific Classification
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Published: January 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 131
ISBN-13: 9780838638767
Subjects: Philosophy; Scientific nomenclature & classification; Reference; Questions & Answers; Metaphysics; Classification of sciences; Knowledge, Theory of
Description: "Discovery and Decision takes a fresh look at the philosophical question of scientific classification, by illustrating that the natural world can be divided into competing classes or kinds, all of which are scientifically significant; by showing that scientists make a choice between competing classifications when they carve up the natural world: scientific classification involves both metaphysics (the way the world is) and epistemology (human aims, theories, and commitments); and by introducing a new model of classification (based on recent developments in the psychology of categorization) to explain the differing ways in which scientists carve up the natural world."--Jacket.