Articles, essays, books, etc.
The writings listed on this page provide insight into the
kinds of scientific and philosophical issues that the ISN explores through study and
dialog.
Modern “emergentism” and
the rediscovery of “natures,” forms, and purpose:
Robert Laughlin,
A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down
(Basic Books, 2005).
Nancy Cartwright,
How the Laws of Physics Lie (Oxford University Press, 1981);
Nature's Capacities and Their Measurement (Oxford
University Press, 1989); and
The Dappled World: A Study of the Boundaries of Science
(Cambridge University Press, 1999).
Alex Pruss, “Aristotelian
Forms and Laws of Nature,” an analytic philosopher looks at
the core Aristotelian concept of substantial form (paper submitted for publication).
James Barham (Fellow of the ISN), “The
Emergence of Biological Value” (PDF format, zipped), from Dembski & Ruse,
Debating Design (Cambridge
University Press, 2004); “The Reality of Purpose and the Reform
of Naturalism,” Philosophia Naturalis (2007), 44:31-52 (PDF format, zipped).
Anti-reductionism/holism, complexity, structuralism:
Mariam Thalos, “Nonreductive Physics,” Synthese, 149 (2006), 133-178
(PDF format, zipped).
Marc Van Regenmortel entitled
“Reductionism and complexity in molecular biology,” EMBO
Reports (Vol. 5, No. 11, 2004) (PDF
format, zipped).
Franklin Harold,
The Way of the Cell
(Oxford University Press, 2003).
Stanley Salthe,
Evolving Hierarchical Systems (Columbia University
Press, 1985).
Brian Goodwin,
How the Leopard Changed Its Spots: The Evolution of Complexity
(Princeton University Press, 2001).
See also the talk in ISN's "Insurgent Science Series" "A Pattern Language for Animal Form"
by Stuart Newman.
On the relation between modern science and
neo-Aristotelian philosophy:
Michael Augros (Fellow of the ISN),
“Reconciling Science with Natural Philosophy,”
The Thomist 68 (2004), pp.105-41 (local link because no longer available on The Thomist website).
Mortimer J. Adler, “The Questions Science Cannot Answer,” Bulletin of the
Atomic Scientists XIII, April 1957.
Mortimer J. Adler, “The
Basic Difference Between Science and Philosophy,” from The Four Dimensions of Philosophy: Metaphysical, Moral,
Objective, Categorical (Macmillan, 1993).
Lamont, “Fall and Rise of Aristotelian Metaphysics in the
Philosophy of Science (PDF),” Science & Education (2007), Vol. 18, Nos 6-7,
pp.861-884. (PDF format, zipped)
An application of the insights of
classical philosophy to modern scienctific issues took place in a lecture in the ISN's "Insurgent Science Series":
see "A Bigger Physics" by Michael Augros.
Neo-Aristotelian philosophical accounts of modern biology and its limits:
Dr. Leon Kass, “The Permanent Limitations of Biology,”
from Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity (Encounter Books, 2002).
Charles DeKoninck, “The Lifeless
World of Biology” (PDF format, zipped), from The Hollow Universe (Oxford
University Press, 1960).
On the
relation between modern physics and neo-Aristotelianism:
An good overview of some of the
issues can be found in an unpublished essay "On Aristotelian,
Classical, and Quantum Physics" (PDF format, zipped) by Dr. Richard F. Hassing (Fellow of the ISN;
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Catholic University of
America; PhD from Cornell University in theoretical physics);
also, see generally articles on
the home page
of Dr. Hassing.
