Understanding perspectivism : scientific challenges and methodological prospects / edited by Michela Massimi and Casey D. McCoy

Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction -- 1 Pragmatism, Perspectivism, and the Historicity of Science -- 2 Explanation, Interdisciplinarity, and Perspectives -- 3 What Is Perspectivism, and Does It Count as Realism? -- 4 Realism and Explanatory Perspectives -- 5 Universality and the Problem of Inconsistent Models -- 6 Representationalism in Measurement Theory. Structuralism or Perspectivalism? -- 7 Safe-and-Substantive Perspectivism -- 8 Charting the Heraclitean Brain: Perspectivism and Simplification in Models of the Motor Cortex -- 9 Cancer Modeling: The Advantages and Limitations of Multiple Perspectives -- 10 Perspectives, Representation, and Integration.

This edited collection is the first of its kind to explore the view called perspectivism in philosophy of science. The book brings together an array of essays that reflect on the methodological promises and scientific challenges of perspectivism in a variety of fields such as physics, biology, cognitive neuroscience, and cancer research, just as a few examples. What are the advantages of using a plurality of perspectives in a given scientific field and for interdisciplinary research? Can different perspectives be integrated? What is the relation between perspectivism, pluralism, and pragmatism? These ten new essays by top scholars in the field offer a polyphonic journey towards understanding the view called 'perspectivism' and its relevance to science.