The Mechanistic Principle and the Non-Mechanical

The Mechanistic Principle and the Non-Mechanical PDF

Author: Paul Carus

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-01-16

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 9780483202504

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Excerpt from The Mechanistic Principle and the Non-Mechanical: An Inquiry Into Fundamentals With Extracts From Representatives of Either Side How are we to explain this contradictory character of the facts with which we are confronted? The scientist claims that the mechanistic principle is and must be true throughout, and we are not prepared to contradict his proposition. On the other hand man does plan and de sign, and his designs determine the future. Are our views of purpose in the domain of life illusions? We are told by some scientists that just as there is no freedom of will, but absolute determinism, so there is really no purpose but only the results of mechanical pressure. The teleological party, however, takes the opposite View and finds purpose everywhere. Even the world of push, the mechanical movements of the stars, are said to be dominated by the purpose of a creator, and our greatest poets declare that ultimately there is a supreme will that governs all. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Mechanistic Principle and the Non Mechanical

The Mechanistic Principle and the Non Mechanical PDF

Author: Paul Carus, PH.D.

Publisher:

Published: 2014-09-10

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 9781502335906

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The original advertisement as printed in "The Dial," Volume 56 [1914] reads: "The truth of the mechanistic principle is here unreservedly acknowledged in this book, without any equivocation or limitation, and it is pointed out that the laws of mechanics apply without exception to all motions; but they do not apply to things that are not motions. The essential features of all higher organic life is the appearance of purpose and the task which the author sets himself is a careful investigation of the problem how purpose is possible in a mechanically regulated world." * * * * * * An excerpt from the beginning of the introductory chapter "Mechanicalism And Teleology - A Contrast..". "TWO world-conceptions stand in a strongly marked contrast to each other. One is the mechanistic, the other the teleological, and the struggle between the two is quite severe. It appears that in the combat no quarter is nor can be given. The former conception is held mostly by scientists, by men of thought who are accustomed to rigid method, by believers in theory; the latter by men of action, by jurists, preachers, moralists, reformers, poets, and all those who deal with the human will in practical life, among them also by sentimentalists, by all those to whom hopes and wishes are arguments. "The facts of our experience seem to favor both views in two different realms; the world of inanimate nature is a world of rigid causation where the laws of mechanics rule supreme, but the world of human action seems to make an exception. In the domain of social relations, the will seems to interfere with the mechanical processes of things and a new kind of causation is introduced, the causation of purpose. All mechanicalism means rigid necessity while the causation of purpose is directed by design and provident forethought. "All life pursues a purpose; even the smallest ameba wants to live. Its aim is self-preservation, and this tendency to self-preservation characterizes all life. Each living being, the lowest as well as the highest, possesses wants and attends to them. It endeavors to maintain and pre- serve itself and to propagate its kind; even the highest and noblest animal, man, can do no more, although his self-assertion will aim at the perpetuation of his better self, his ideals."

The Mechanistic Principle and the Non-Mechanical

The Mechanistic Principle and the Non-Mechanical PDF

Author: Paul Carus

Publisher: Palala Press

Published: 2016-05-07

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 9781355874447

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Mechanistic Explanations in Physics and Beyond

Mechanistic Explanations in Physics and Beyond PDF

Author: Brigitte Falkenburg

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-08-28

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 3030107078

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This volume offers a broad, philosophical discussion on mechanical explanations. Coverage ranges from historical approaches and general questions to physics and higher-level sciences . The contributors also consider the topics of complexity, emergence, and reduction. Mechanistic explanations detail how certain properties of a whole stem from the causal activities of its parts. This kind of explanation is in particular employed in explanatory models of the behavior of complex systems. Often used in biology and neuroscience, mechanistic explanation models have been often overlooked in the philosophy of physics. The authors correct this surprising neglect. They trace these models back to their origins in physics. The papers present a comprehensive historical, methodological, and problem-oriented investigation. The contributors also investigate the conditions for using models of mechanistic explanations in physics. The last papers make the bridge from physics to economics, the theory of complex systems and computer science . This book will appeal to graduate students and researchers with an interest in the philosophy of science, scientific explanation, complex systems, models of explanation in physics higher level sciences, and causal mechanisms in science.