Scientific Pluralism Reconsidered

A New Approach to the (Dis)Unity of Science

Ruphy has written a marvelously clear and tremendously engaging book that one could read over summer holidays and yet think about for years to come. By grounding philosophical discussion of scientific practice in cosmology and astrophysics, and using detailed philosophical arguments, Ruphy has set a high bar for what reflections on scientific pluralism should aim to achieve.
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

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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.

208 Pages, 5.5 x 8.5 in.

December, 2016

isbn : 9780822944584

about the author

Stephanie Ruphy

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.

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Stephanie Ruphy