Dictionary of Concepts in the Philosophy of Science
Dictionary of Concepts in the Philosophy of Science

By Paul T. Durbin.

Published by Greenwood Press, 1988.

This is a 6" by 9" hardbound book running to 362 pages including the bibliography and index, plus a series foreword, preface and introduction.

More of a modest encyclopedia than a dictionary, this book aims to give an introductory treatment to concepts in the philosophy of science. The focus is on concepts in the physical sciences and on philosophical issues stemming from specific scientific ideas, rather than on the various theories of epistemology as they underly science, which are disappointingly not included. The writing, though, is very non-technical and easy to understand, which is a strong point about the book, since so many people are easily turned off by technical philosophical writing and it's a subject that can potentially interest many people. The downfall of the book, however, is that its discussions are shallower than they really need to be.

The full sequence of entries from "T" through the end of the book runs:

• Technology
  
• Teleology
  
• Theory
  
• Theory Acceptance
  
• Time
  
• Transcendentalism and Science
  
• Truth
  
• Unity of Science Movement
  
• Utility
  
• Verstehen
  
• Vitalism