Thinking about mechanisms

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Philosophy of Science 67 (1):1-25 (2000)
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Abstract

The concept of mechanism is analyzed in terms of entities and activities, organized such that they are productive of regular changes. Examples show how mechanisms work in neurobiology and molecular biology. Thinking in terms of mechanisms provides a new framework for addressing many traditional philosophical issues: causality, laws, explanation, reduction, and scientific change

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10.1086/392759

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Author Profiles

Photo of Peter Machamer
Peter Machamer
University of Pittsburgh
Photo of Carl F. Craver
Carl F. Craver
Washington University in St. Louis
Photo of Lindley Darden
Lindley Darden
University of Maryland, College Park

Citations of this work

The New Mechanical Philosophy.Stuart Glennan - 2017 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Transparency in Complex Computational Systems.Kathleen A. Creel - 2020 - Philosophy of Science 87 (4):568-589.
Explanation: a mechanist alternative.William Bechtel & Adele Abrahamsen - 2005 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 36 (2):421-441.

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References found in this work

Causality and explanation: A reply to two critiques.Wesley C. Salmon - 1997 - Philosophy of Science 64 (3):461-477.
Nature's Capacities and Their Measurement.Tim Maudlin & Nancy Cartwright - 1993 - Journal of Philosophy 90 (11):599.
Discovery and Explanation in Biology and Medicine.Kenneth F. Schaffner - 1995 - Journal of the History of Biology 28 (1):172-174.
Discovering mechanisms in neurobiology: The case of spatial memory.Carl F. Craver & Lindley Darden - 2001 - In Peter McLaughlin, Peter Machamer & Rick Grush, Theory and Method in the Neurosciences. Pittsburgh University Press. pp. 112--137.

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