{"product_id":"how-knowledge-grows-isbn-9780262544450","title":"How Knowledge Grows","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn argument that the development of scientific practice and growth of scientific knowledge are governed by Darwin’s evolutionary model of descent with modification.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlthough scientific investigation is influenced by our cognitive and moral failings as well as all of the factors impinging on human life, the historical development of scientific knowledge has trended toward an increasingly accurate picture of an increasing number of phenomena. Taking a fresh look at Thomas Kuhn’s 1962 work, \u003ci\u003eThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions\u003c\/i\u003e, in \u003ci\u003eHow Knowledge Grows \u003c\/i\u003eChris Haufe uses evolutionary theory to explain both why scientific practice develops the way it does and how scientific knowledge expands. This evolutionary model, claims Haufe, helps to explain what is epistemically special about scientific knowledge: its tendency to grow in both depth and breadth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKuhn showed how intellectual communities achieve consensus in part by discriminating against ideas that differ from their own and isolating themselves intellectually from other fields of inquiry and broader social concerns. These same characteristics, says Haufe, determine a biological population’s degree of susceptibility to modification by natural selection. He argues that scientific knowledge grows, even across generations of variable groups of scientists, precisely because its development is governed by Darwinian evolution. Indeed, he supports the claim that this susceptibility to modification through natural selection helps to explain the epistemic power of certain branches of modern science. In updating and expanding the evolutionary approach to scientific knowledge, Haufe provides a model for thinking about science that acknowledges the historical contingency of scientific thought while showing why we nevertheless should trust the results of scientific research when it is the product of certain kinds of scientific communities.Acknowledgments ix\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction 1\u003cbr\u003eI The Evolution of Scientific Knowledge 7\u003cbr\u003e1 Again with the Science and the Evolution? 11\u003cbr\u003e2 The Persistence of Practice 45\u003cbr\u003e3 Isolation of the Evolving Population 71\u003cbr\u003e4 Directionality and the Refinement of Scientific Practice 105\u003cbr\u003e5 Branching and the Growth of Scientific Knowledge 141\u003cbr\u003e6 The Recovery of Scientific Knowledge 177\u003cbr\u003eII The Emergence of a Discipline 207\u003cbr\u003e7 The Philosophical Foundations of Disciplinary Autonomy 213\u003cbr\u003e8 Attempted Paleontology 227\u003cbr\u003e9 Wonderful Death 271\u003cbr\u003eNotes 309\u003cbr\u003eReferences 315\u003cbr\u003eIndex 329“Haufe’s book offers a compelling case for why we should take the analogy between science and Darwinian evolution seriously. He shows that Darwinian selection is at the core of science’s production of knowledge—growing it ever deeper and ever broader with time.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Ahmed Al-Juhany, \u003ci\u003eQuarterly Review of Biology\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Overall, \u003ci\u003e[How Knowledge Grows]\u003c\/i\u003e provides a fascinating, clearly argued, and at times compelling account. There is grandeur in this view of science, and this book might provide a promising starting point for further research into an evolutionary understanding of the scientific process. This should be essential reading for anyone interested in the history or epistemology of science, as well as the philosophy of biology or paleontology.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Metascience\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Well-informed, enjoyable to read, and well-argued. It provides a much-needed update to an important line of thought in 20th century philosophy of science, and will be useful for researchers working on a diverse range of issues: from traditional epistemological questions such as demarcating science from nonscience; to the application of cultural evolutionary theory in the philosophy of science in practice; to the history of science.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eEvolution\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Science seems to grow in power and breadth over generations, yet it is conducted by fallible individuals whose judgment is often coerced by irrelevant social factors. How is this possible?  Christopher Haufe argues that the apparent opposing forces are resolved through a Darwinian approach to the conundrum.  His argument is  philosophically acute and entirely persuasive, especially in regard to scientific practice.” \u003cb\u003e—Robert J. Richards, Morris Fischbein Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Science, The University of Chicago\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This book advances two Kuhnian ideas, that science is essentially a product of communities, and that scientific development has deep analogies to Darwinian evolution. A case study on the development of evolutionary paleontology nicely illustrates this.” \u003cb\u003e—Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Professor Emeritus at Leibniz University of Hannover\u003c\/b\u003eChris Haufe is Elizabeth M. and William C. Treuhaft Professor of the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304848478437,"sku":"NP9780262544450","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262544450.jpg?v=1767729324","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/how-knowledge-grows-isbn-9780262544450","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}