Beyond the Material and the Mechanical: Occam's Razor Is a Double-Edged Blade
Abstract. To confine scientific narrative to only material and mechanical causes is to ensure incomplete and at times contrived descriptions of phenomena. In the life sciences, and particularly in the field of ecology, causality takes on qualitatively distinct forms at different hierarchical levels....
| Autor principal: | |
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| Tipo de documento: | Electrónico Artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Verificar disponibilidad: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Gargar...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publicado: |
Wiley-Blackwell
1995
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| En: |
Zygon
Año: 1995, Volumen: 30, Número: 2, Páginas: 249-266 |
| Otras palabras clave: | B
formal cause
B Aristotelean causality B hierarchy theory B ecosystem development B Newtonianism |
| Acceso en línea: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | No electrónico
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| Sumario: | Abstract. To confine scientific narrative to only material and mechanical causes is to ensure incomplete and at times contrived descriptions of phenomena. In the life sciences, and particularly in the field of ecology, causality takes on qualitatively distinct forms at different hierarchical levels. The notion of formal cause provides for entirely natural and quantitative explanations of ecosystem behavior. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-9744 |
| Obras secundarias: | Enthalten in: Zygon
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.1995.tb00068.x |