ABOUT THIS BOOK

Can we expect our scientific theories to make up a unified structure, or do they form a kind of “patchwork” whose pieces remain independent from each other? Does the proliferation of sometimes-incompatible representations of the same phenomenon compromise the ability of science to deliver reliable knowledge? Is there a single correct way to classify things that science should try to discover, or is taxonomic pluralism here to stay? These questions are at the heart of philosophical debate on the unity or plurality of science, one of the most central issues in philosophy of science today. This book offers a critical overview and a new structure of this debate. It focuses on the methodological, epistemic, and metaphysical commitments of various philosophical attitudes surrounding monism and pluralism, and offers novel perspectives and pluralist theses on scientific methods and objects, reductionism, plurality of representations, natural kinds, and scientific classifications.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Stéphanie Ruphy is professor of philosophy of science and head of the research laboratory PPL (Philosophy, Pratices, and Langages) at Université Grenoble Alpes in France. She is also president of the Société de philosophie des sciences.

REVIEWS

“Ruphy's book is an important contribution to the growing literature on scientific pluralism. It should be read and discussed widely.”

—Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

“Scientific Pluralism Reconsidered is a pleasing culmination of Stéphanie Ruphy’s pioneering and underappreciated philosophical work. She gives careful and sympathetic critiques of various monist and pluralist positions and advances her own synthesis of ‘foliated pluralism’ supported by perceptive and measured arguments. This book deserves to be read by all practice-oriented philosophers of science.”
—Hasok Chang, University of Cambridge

“Ruphy offers the first comprehensive introduction to debates about pluralism in philosophy of science. She succeeds not only in providing a clear overview of the field but also in advancing current debates about the methodological and ontological dimensions of scientific pluralism. This outstanding book will become an indispensable resource for students and researchers alike.”
—David Ludwig, VU University Amsterdam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Languages, Methods, Objects

The Linguistic Unity of the Vienna Circle

The Question of the Unity of the Object Domain of the Sciences in Carnap’s Work

Traditional Methodological Unities

Hacking’s Styles of Scientific Reasoning

Ontological Enrichment and “Foliated Pluralism”

2. Intertheoretic Relations and Their Metaphysical Import

Metaphysical Foundations of Antireductionist Theses

From the Failure of Reductionism to the Disorder of Things: A Problematic Inference

Against Cartwright’s Nomological Metaphysical Pluralism

Ontological Order and Nomological Disorder in the Structuralist Approach

Nonreductive Intertheoretic Relations and Unity of Nature

Intermediate Conclusion

3. Representations

Current Defining Lines of the Monism versus Pluralism Debate

Simulations of Real-World Physical Systems: A Case of Permanent Incompatible Plurality

Taxonomic Pluralism

Concluding Remarks

Notes

References

Index

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