Models The word “model” is highly ambiguous, and there is no uniform terminology used by either scientists or philosophers. Hier, a model is considered to be a representation of some object, Verhalten, or system that one wants to understand. This article presents the most common type of models found in science as well as the different relations—traditionally called “analogies”—between models and between a given model

Theories of Explanation Within the philosophy of science there have been competing ideas about what an explanation is. Historisch, explanation has been associated with causation: to explain an event or phenomenon is to identify its cause. But with the growth and development of philosophy of science in the 20th century, the concept of explanation began to receive more rigorous and specific analysis. Of particular concern

Metaphilosophy What is philosophy? What is philosophy for? How should philosophy be done? These are metaphilosophical questions, metaphilosophy being the study of the nature of philosophy. Contemporary metaphilosophies within the Western philosophical tradition can be divided, rather roughly, according to whether they are associated with (1) Analytic philosophy, (2) Pragmatist philosophy, oder (3) Continental philosophy. The pioneers of the Analytic movement held that philosophy should begin with

Immanuel Kant: Metaphysik Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) ist einer der einflussreichsten Philosophen in der Geschichte der westlichen Philosophie. Seine Beiträge zur Metaphysik, Erkenntnistheorie, Ethik, und Ästhetik hatten einen tiefgreifenden Einfluss auf fast jede philosophische Bewegung, die ihm folgte. Dieser Artikel konzentriert sich auf seine Metaphysik und Erkenntnistheorie in einem seiner wichtigsten Werke, Die Kritik der reinen Vernunft. Ein großer Teil von Kants

Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics Quantum mechanics is a physical theory developed in the 1920s to account for the behavior of matter on the atomic scale. It has subsequently been developed into arguably the most empirically successful theory in the history of physics. Aber, it is hard to understand quantum mechanics as a description of the physical world, or to understand it as a physical explanation

Nicholas of Cusa (1401—1464) In the 21st century, Nicholas of Cusa or Cusanus is variously appreciated as a Christian disciple of the burgeoning Italian humanism of the 15th century, one of the great mystical theologians and reforming bishops of the late Middle Ages, and a dialogical religious thinker whose philosophical and political ideas peacefully contemplate the unity of old wisdom and new, Christian and Muslim