Metaphysicians speak of laws of nature in terms of necessity and universality; scientists, in terms of symmetry and invariance.  In this book van Fraassen argues that no metaphysical account of laws can succeed.  He analyzes and rejects the arguments that there are laws of nature, or that we must believe there are, and argues that we should disregard the idea of law as an adequate clue to science. After exploring what this means for general epistemology, the author develops the empiricist view of science as a construction of models to represent the phenomena.

Laws and Symmetry

Politics & Social Sciences

Bas C. Van Fraassen

Philosophy

Clarendon Press

<p>Encino 1972. Hardcover. Octavo, 227pp., index, cloth. Fine in Fine DJ.</p>

Derivation and Counterexample: An Introduction to Philosophical Logic

Karel Lambert

See Description

La imagen cientifica / The Scientific Image (Spanish Edition)

Science & Math

Paidos Mexicana Editorial

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Books by Bas C. Van Fraassen