This volume reflects the ¿philosophy of science in practice¿ approach and takes a fresh look at traditional philosophical problems in the context of natural, social, and health research. Inspired by the work of Nancy Cartwright that shows how the practices and apparatuses of science help us to understand science and to build theories in the philosophy of science, this volume critically examines the philosophical concepts of evidence, laws, causation, and models and their roles in the process of scientific reasoning. Each chapter is an important one in the philosophy of science, while the volume as a whole deals with these philosophical concepts in a unified way in the context of actual scientific practice. This volumethus aims to contribute to this new direction in the philosophy of science.¿

Hiang-Ke Chao is Professor of Economics at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. Julian Reiss is Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society (CHESS) at Durham University, UK.

Chapter 1. Introduction; Hsiang-Ke Chao.- PART I. Evidence in Practice.- Chapter 2. Single Case Causes: What is Evidence and Why; Nancy Cartwright.- Chapter 3. Partial Evidence in Medicine; Otávio Bueno.- Chapter 4. On the Casual Wars; Julian Reiss.- Part II. Laws and Causation in Practice.- Chapter 5. Dappled Science in a Unified World; Michael Strevens.- Chapter 6. A Dual-Role Account of Ceteris Paribus Laws; Kai-Yuan Cheng.- Chapter 7. On Component Forces in Physics: A Pragmatic View; Darrell P. Rowbottom.- Chapter 8. Mechanisms, Capacities, and Nomological Machines: Integrating Cartwright's Account of Nomological Machines and Machamer, Darden and Craver's Account of Mechanisms; Ruey-Lin Chen.- Part III. Models in Practice.- Chapter 9. Scientific Representation Is Representation-As; Roman Frigg .- Chapter 10. Model-Based Knowledge and Credible Policy Analysis; Hsiang-Ke Chao.¿