About the book

This is the first book that analyzes and systematizes all the general ideas of medicine, in particular the philosophical ones, which are usually tacit. Instead of focusing on one or two points –typically disease and clinical trial– this book examines all the salient aspects of biomedical research and practice: the nature of disease; the logic of diagnosis; the discovery and design of drugs; the design of lab and clinical trials; the crafting of therapies and design of protocols; the moral duties and rights of physicians and patients; the distinctive features of scientific medicine and of medical quackery; the unique combination of basic and translational research; the place of physicians and nurses in society; the task of medical sociology; and the need for universal medical coverage. Health care workers, medicine buffs, and philosophers will find this thought-provoking book highly useful in their line of work and research.

About the author

Born in Buenos Aires in 1919, Professor Mario Bunge earned his doctorate in physico-mathematical sciences from the National University of La Plata in Argentina, and has been a professor of theoretical physics and of philosophy. He joined McGill University in 1966, was given a named chair, and was recently made an emeritus professor. He has also been a visiting professor in numerous countries including the USA, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, and Australia. Professor Bunge holds 19 honorary doctorates and four honorary professorships, is a member of four academies and a Prince of Asturias laureate, and ranks #43 in the AAAS’ Science Hall of Fame. He has authored over 400 papers and more than 80 books on quantum theory, philosophy of science, semantics, epistemology, ontology, ethics, political philosophy, and science policy. An Interview with Mario Bunge

Contents

Introduction

1. Traditional Medicines
2. Modern Medicine
3. Disease
4. Diagnosis
5. Drug
6. Trial
7. Therapy
8. Prevention
9. Iatroethics
10. Science or Technology, Craft or Service?

Sample Chapter(s)

Introduction (43 KB)

Chapter 1: Traditional Medicines (148 KB)

Reviews

Professor Mario Bunge surprises us once more with a lucid discussion of the philosophy of medicine … The insights gained will provide the reader with a more complete vision of the underpinnings of medical theory and practice … It is likely that one will find Bunge’s prose entertaining as well as enlightening.”

Ernesto L Schiffrin

Professor of Medicine

McGill University, Canada

 “Professor Bunge argues masterfully that physicians, whether or not they are aware of it, operate in the context of a philosophical framework, elegantly presented in this text, that has been influenced by centuries of thought … I recommend this enriching and provocative book broadly.”

Bradley L Schlaggar

A Ernest and Jane G Stein Professor of Developmental Neurology

Washington University in St. Louis, USA

“ … With his brilliant and creative blend of ontological systemic materialism, epistemological realism, science based technology, and humanist ethics, Professor Bunge deals innovatively with the philosophical underpinnings of modern medicine … You will never think about medicine in the same way again.”

Carles Muntaner

Professor of Nursing, Public Health and Psychiatry

University of Toronto, Canada

“This book  –the most recent reflections of a life spent in physics, philosophy, and other disciplines– introduces the reader to many familiar questions but puts a philosophical spin on them … This is a tour de force not to be missed by anyone who likes his or her medicine to be leavened with thought.”

Edward Shorter

Professor of the History of Medicine and Psychiatry

University of Toronto, Canada

 “Through his cross-disciplinary philosophical perspective, Mario Bunge gives us physicians a clear orientation … Bunge does not confine himself to evidence-based medicine, the one centered in randomized controlled trials, i.e., our ‘gold standard.’ He proposes convincingly an even higher-quality measure: the ‘platinum standard,’ which is met by therapies that are not only experimentally validated, but also enjoy the support of the scientific knowledge of biological mechanisms.”

Dietmar König

Director

RheinischeOrthopedic Clinic

“For me, as a sociologist, Professor Bunge’s systemic perspective and ‘integral’ analysis of healthy and disease-causing processes acting upon us in our social environment is particularly enlightening. In this context, Bunge impressively makes use of important research results indicating how medical scientists should expand their old-fashioned models of human health.”

Heinz W Droste

Editor-in-Chief

Konzeptionstechnik.de

2nd Enlarged Edition, Amherst (New York): Prometheus Books, 2003, pp. 330. ISBN 13: 978-1591020370 (paperback).

This lexicon of modern Western philosophical concepts, problems, principles, and theories may well be the shortest dictionary of philosophy in the English language, but one of the most useful. Organized by internationally recognized philosopher Mario Bunge, this indispensable volume, directed to general and university audiences, elucidates and evaluates many contemporary philosophical ideas from a humanist and scientifically oriented perspective.

From A to Z, most entries are brief and nontechnical in nature, highlighting useful philosophical terms rather than trendy ones. Placing emphasis on “living” philosophy, Bunge has deliberately excluded many of the archaic terms and philosophical curious of other dictionaries. He has incorporated a number of “minipapers” or longer definitions of some terms, and he critically analyzes such influential doctrines as existentialism, phenomenology, idealism, materialism, pragmatism, deontological ethics, utilitarianism, and many others. Constructive alternatives are offered to all philosophical approaches he criticizes.

This enlarged edition of Mario Bunge’s book is a superb reference work for both students and professional philosophers. In one volume Bunge covers all the major branches of contemporary philosophy, logic, semantics, metaphysics, and epistemology, as well as practical and applied philosophies.

Author biography

Mario Bunge was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 1919. After training as a physicist –doctorate in mathematical physics, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (1952), where he learnt atomic physics and quantum mechanics from Guido Beck, an Austrian expatriate who had been an assistant of Heisenberg–, he was professor of theoretical physics (1956-1966) and philosophy, which he taught at the University of Buenos Aires from 1957 to 1963. He was the first South American philosopher of science to be trained in science.

Driven to emigrate by the political situation of his native country, particularly due to his socialist leanings, Mario Bunge initially settled in Europe, then in Montréal, where in 1966 he joined the philosophy department at McGill University, and never looked back. His career as a researcher rapidly assumed international scope and led him on to countless activities as an editor, speaker, guest professor, learned society member, and recipient of honorary distinctions, etc.

As Michael R. Matthews –University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia– underline, the unifying thread of Mario Bunge’s scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialization is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognized – it is salutary to see the fruits of one person’s pursuit of the ‘Big’ scientific and philosophical picture.

Mario Bunge was the Frothingham Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at McGill University until his retirement in 2011 and is now Professor Emeritus in Philosophy.

He is author of over 80 books (including many translations into several languages) and some 500 articles mainly in English and Spanish, cofounder with logician Hugues Leblanc of the Society for Exact Philosophy, Mario Bunge set himself a task as an epistemologist, achieving a synthesis of rationalism and empiricism (Scientific Research, 1967, new version: Philosophy of Science, 1999), and also as a generalist philosopher and creator of a complete system, thanks to his monumental 8 volume Treatise on Basic Philosophy (1974-89), in which he defended conceptions on materialism and humanism. In his own cutting style, his Dictionary of Philosophy (1999) –the first edition of the Philosophical Dictionary–, accurately conveys this thought. Advocate of a precise philosophy “offering axiomatic and formalized expression of concepts and theories” he no less supported original positions on moral thought and politics. He is also the author of The Sociology-Philosophy Connection (1991), Finding Philosophy in Social Science (1996), Social Science under Debate. A Philosophical Perspective (1998), Philosophy in Crisis: The Need for Reconstruction (2001), Scientific Realism: Selected Essays of Mario Bunge (edited by Martin Mahner (2001), Matter and Mind. A Philosophical Inquiry (2010), Evaluating Philosophies (2012), and Medical Philosophy (2013).

He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (from 1984) and the Royal Society of Canada (from 1992). He was awarded the Premio Príncipe de Asturias of Spain in 1982 and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009.

Degrees

PhD in physico-mathematical sciences, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (1952)

Twenty honorary doctorates

Five honorary professorships

Teaching and research areas

Theoretical physics

Ontology

Epistemology

Philosophy of science

Philosophy of technology

Philosophy of mind

Value theory and ethics

Current research

Philosophy of the social sciences, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics

1a) Bunge, Mario, Philosophy of science: from problem to theory,

Revised edition, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1998, pp. 624. ISBN 13: 978-0-7658-0413-6 (paperback). [Scientific research I: The search for system, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1967].

http://books.google.fr/books?id=oX84XOf-T68C&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false

1b) Bunge, Mario, Philosophy of science: from explanation to justification,

Revised edition: New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1998, pp. 455. ISBN 13: 978-0-7658-0414-3 (paperback). [Scientific research II: The search of truth, Berlin: Springer-Verlag 1967].

http://books.google.fr/books?id=ofcy8wZeLCoC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false

Existe versión española: BUNGE, Mario, La investigación científica. Su estrategia y su filosofía, 2da. Ed., México: Editorial Siglo XXI Editores, 2002, pp. 800.

Description

Originally published as “Scientific Research”, this pair of volumes constitutes a fundamental treatise on the strategy of science.

Mario Bunge, one of the major figures of the century in the development of a scientific epistemology, describes and analyzes scientific philosophy, as well as discloses its philosophical presuppositions. This work may be used as a map to identify the various stages in the road to scientific knowledge.

Philosophy of Science is divided into two volumes, each with two parts. Part 1 offers a preview of the scheme of science and the logical and semantical took that will be used throughout the work. The account of scientific research begins with part 2, where Bunge discusses formulating the problem to be solved, hypothesis, scientific law, and theory.

The second volume opens with part 3, which deals with the application of theories to explanation, prediction, and action. This section is graced by an outstanding discussion of the philosophy of technology. Part 4 begins with measurement and experiment. It then examines risks in jumping to conclusions from data to hypotheses as well as the converse procedure.

Bunge begins this mammoth work with a section entitled “How to Use This Book”. He writes that it is intended for both independent reading and reference as well as for use in courses on scientific method and the philosophy of science. It suits a variety of purposes from introductory to advanced levels. Philosophy of Science is a versatile, informative, and useful text that will benefit professors, researchers, and students in a variety of disciplines, ranging from the behavioral and biological sciences to the physical sciences.

BUNGE, Mario, Philosophy of Science. From Problem to Theory, Volume one.

CONTENTS

Part I  Approach and Tools

1.            The Scientific Approach	3
1.1. Knowledge: Ordinary and Scientific	3
1.2. Scientific Method	8
1.3. Scientific Tactics	16
1.4. Branches of Science	24
1.5. Goal and Scope of Science	29
1.6. Pseudoscience	40
Bibliography	50
2.            Concept	51
2.1. Scientific Languages	52
2.2. Term and Concept	63
2.3. Reference, Extension and Intension	73
2.4. Partition, Ordering and Systematics	82
2.5. From Pretheoretical to Theoretical Systematics	91
2.6. Systematics of Concepts	99
Bibliography	106
3.            Elucidation	109
3.1. Vagueness and Borderline Cases	109
3.2. Sharpening	121
3.3. Definition	132
3.4. *Problems of Definition	145
3.5. Interpretation	156
3.6. Interpretation Procedures	164
3.7. Concept «Validity»	174
Bibliography	182
Part II   Scientific Ideas
4.            Problem	187
4.1. The Spring of Science	187
4.2. *Logic of Problems	193
4.3. Scientific Problems	208
4.4. A Paradigm, a Framework and a Simile	218
4.5. Heuristics	225
4.6. The End of Scientific Problems	232
4.7. Philosophical Problems	242
Bibliography	250
5.            Hypothesis	253
5.1. Meanings	253
5.2. Formulation	260
5.3. *Kinds: Form and Content	270
5.4. Kinds: Epistemological Viewpoint	277
5.5. Ground	287
5.6. Testability	296
5.7. *Requirements	309
5.8. Functions	317
5.9. Philosophical Hypotheses in Science	329
Bibliography	344
6.            Law	347
6.1. Variables and Invariants	347
6.2. Searching for Law	358
6.3. Kinds	370
6.4. Form and Content	380
6.5. Law Formula and Pattern	391
6.6. Requirements	403
6.7. *Laws of Laws	413
6.8. The Rule of Law	421
Bibliography	431
7.            Theory: Statics	433
7.1. The Nervous System of Science	434
7.2. Conceptual Unity	446
7.3. Deducibility	457
7.4. Abstract Theory and Interpretation	470
7.5. *Probability: Calculus, Models, Misinterpretations	482
7.6. Formal Desiderata	496
Bibliography	508
8.            Theory: Dynamics	511
8.1. Theory Construction	511
8.2. Mathematization	531
8.3. *Reconstruction (Formalization)	548
8.4. Reference and Evidence	561
8.5. Depth	575
Bibliography	589
Author Index	591
Subject Index	595

BUNGE, Mario, Philosophy of Science. From Explanation to Justification, Volume two.

CONTENTS

Part III Applying Scientific Ideas

9.            Explanation	3
9.1. Answering Whys	3
9.2. Nonscientific Explanation	10
9.3. Scientific Subsumption	19
9.4. Mechanismic Explanation	28
9.5. Mechanismic Explanation and Reduction of Laws	37
9.6. Explanatory Power	49
9.7. Functions and Reach	59
Bibliography	71
10.          Prediction	73
10.1. Projection	73
10.2. Stochastic Projection	82
10.3. Hindcast	94
10.4. Projective Power	107
10.5. Riddles	119
Bibliography	133
11.          Action	135
11.1. Truth and Action	136
11.2. Technological Rule	147
11.3. Technological Forecast	156
Bibliography	167
Part IV Testing Scientific Ideas
12.          Observation	171
12.1. Fact	171
12.2. Observability	181
12.3. Indicator	192
12.4. Data and Evidence	198
12.5. Function	209
Bibliography	216
13.          Measurement	217
13.1. Quantitation	217
13.2. Measured Value	231
13.3. Counting	239
13.4. Scale and Unit	246
13.5. Techniques	260
13.6. Upshot	270
Bibliography	279
14.          Experiment	281
14.1. Planned Change	281
14.2. Control	291
14.3. Design	300
14.4. Significance	306
14.5. Testing the Test	313
14.6. Functions	318
Bibliography	324
15.          Concluding	325
15.1. Inferring	325
15.2. Testing Observational Propositions	334
15.3. Testing Hypotheses	342
15.4. Confirmation and Refutation	354
15.5. A Case History: Torricelli	368
15.6. Testing Theories	377
15.7. Theory Assaying	388
Bibliography	404
Afterword	405
Author Index	411
Subject Index	415

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This is a treatise on the strategy and philosophy of science. It is an attempt to describe and analyze scientific research, as well as to disclose some of its philosophical presuppositions. This work may then be used as a map to identify the various stages in the road to scientific knowledge. It is an update of the author’s Scientific Research (Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag, 1967, 1973).

This treatise is divided into two volumes of two parts each. Part I, the Introduction, offers a preview of the scheme of science (Ch. 1) and some logical and semantical tools (Chs. 2 and 3) that will be used in the sequel. The account of scientific research proper begins with Part II on Scientific Ideas. In the beginning was the problem a subject studied in Ch. 4. Then comes the tentative solution to a problem that is a hypothesis (Ch. 5). Next, the hypothesis assumed to reproduce an objective pattern, i.e. the scientific law (Ch. 6). Finally the building and readjustment of systems of hypotheses i.e., theories are examined in Chs. 7 (with emphasis on structure and content) and 8 (with emphasis on construction). This closes Vol. 1, From Problem to Theory. Vol. 2 opens with Part III, Applying Scientific Ideas. Ch. 9 deals with the application of theories to explanation and Ch. 10 with their application to prediction and retrodiction. Ch. 11, on rational action, belongs to the philosophy of technology. Finally Part IV, Testing Scientific Ideas, opens with observation (Ch. 12) and goes on to measurement (Ch. 13) and experiment (Ch. 14). The jumping to conclusions from data to hypotheses and conversely (Ch. 15) completes Vol. 2, From Explanation to Justification. Look at the structure:

A look at the logical relationships among the chapters as displayed in the previous diagram should help the reader to use the book and understand the philosophy of science it proposes.

*The paragraphs between asterisks may be skipped in a first reading*. What should not be omitted are some of the problems appended to every section. Their purpose is threefold: to test the reader’s understanding of the text, to shake his belief in it, and to invite him to advance the subject. There are more than a thousand such queries. Every problem set has been ordered roughly according to difficulty: the first few are usually exercises whereas some of the last are research problems. In assigning them the instructor should first appraise the background they require.

Quarrels with fellow metascientists have for the most part been avoided in the text and left to the problems. Bibliographical references, too, have been relegated to the problems and to lists at the end of every chapter. As a consequence every section resembles an uninterrupted lecture. With appropriate cuts each volume will cover one semester.

The book has been planned both for independent reading and reference, and for use in courses on Scientific Method and Philosophy of Science. Since the text oscillates between an introductory and an advanced level, it may suit a variety of purposes. For one thing, the book might be used as a substitute for formal lectures which anyhow would seem to have been rendered somewhat obsolete by Gutenberg. A lively discussion of the text and some of the problems, as well as of the results of exploring the suggested bibliography, should be more interesting and rewarding than a paraphrase. Warning: Any book on our subject is apt to make irritating demands on its reader: he will be asked to sail back and forth between the Scylla of science and the Charibdis of philosophy. The author sympathizes with the traveller but he cannot offer apologies; instead, he will state the truism that shipwrecking can be avoided either by abstaining from sailing or by training in the skill. May the present book be of help to those who feel seasick at the mere thought of having to learn some science, and a rough guide for those who wish to take a closer look at the beast. Let it be recalled however that no travel guide can make the journey for us.

MARIO BUNGE

DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

MCGILL UNIVERSITY

MONTREAL/CANADA

BUNGE, Mario, Las ciencias sociales en discusión: una perspectiva filosófica, Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1999, pp. 576. ISBN 13: 978 -9-500-71566-9 (rústica).*

About the book (from the publisher)

Mario Bunge, author of the monumental Treatise on Basic Philosophy, is widely renowned as a philosopher of science. In this new and ambitious work he shifts his attention to the social sciences and the social technologies. He considers a number of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, law, history, and management science.

Bunge contends that social science research has fallen prey to a postmodern fascination with irrationalism and relativism. He urges social scientists to re-examine the philosophy and the methodology at the base of their discipline. Bunge calls for objective and relevant fact-finding, rigorous theorizing, and empirical testing, as well as morally sensitive and socially responsible policy design.

About the book (this are excerpts from Mario Bunge’s Preface)

This book deals with controversies that divide the students of society, social-policy makers, and philosopher of social studies. These scholars are indeed split over philosophical questions about the nature of society and the best way of getting to know it, as well as on the fairest way of solving social issues. Thus, for instance, if people are assumed to follow exclusively the laws of nature, then we may discover the social order but it is not for us to question it, let alone try and alter it. Again, if social facts cannot be understood the way any other facts can, namely by observation, conjecture, and argument, then the study of society can never become scientific and thus be a reliable guide to social policy and political action. And if rationality is nothing but self-interest, and the only serious social theories are of the rational-choice kind, then, given the social traps that self-seeking behaviour can lead us to, we must give up all hope of conducting our affairs in the light of social studies, or perhaps even in the light of reason. Are we really so badly off, or is there a way out? (p. IX)

[…].

This book is not an impartial description and dispassionate analysis of the current state of the social sciences and sociotechnologies. Far from gloating over accomplishments, it focuses on flaws likely to be rooted in either mistaken philosophies or ideological dogmas. This admittedly unbalanced selection should not give the impression that contemporary social science is all warts. I do believe that social science has been advancing and can continue to do so –provided it resists the bulldozing of “postmodern” irrationalism. But I have chosen to highlight some of the philosophical obstacles to further advancement. Other scholars are likely to note flaws of a different king, such as neglect of the theories of social changes and mechanisms (e.g., Sørensen 1997) and insufficient longitudinal data to test those theories (e.g., Smith and Boyle Torrey 1996).

Most scientists, being eager to get on with their work, are impatient with controversy and philosophy. But what if one has unwittingly adopted a wrong approach to the problem at hand? And what if such an approach has been prompted by an unexamined philosophy that hinders the exploration of reality –e.g., by holding that reality is a construction, or else self-existent but impregnable to the scientific method? In such cases philosophical debate is indispensable, not only to unearth and examine presuppositions, clarify ideas, and check inferences, but to make research at all possible. (pp. X-XI).

[…].

Prominent among the targets of my criticism are certain radical views: holism (or collectivism) and individualism (or atomism); spiritualism (idealism) and physicalism; irrationalism and hyperrationalism (apriorism); positivism and obscurantist anti-positivism; social constructivism and relativism; zealotry and insensitivity to the moral aspect of social issues; bogus rigor and the cult of data; grand theory and ideology; moralizing ignorant of social science; and the compartmentalization of social studies. Spare the rod and spoil the tender-minded. (pp. XI-XII).

However, my criticisms should not be mistaken for the rash views that social studies are necessarily not scientific and that all philosophy is rubbish. […]. (p. XII)

My own view is that the study of society, though still backward, can and should become fully scientific, particularly if it is to guide effective and responsible social action. […]. (p. XII)

[…].

Finally, a word of encouragement to the prospective reader who may be put off by the large number of disciplines examined in this book. This diversity has turned out to be manageable for being unified with the help of only a dozen master ideas. These are the following. […]. (p. XIII).

About the author

Mario Bunge was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 1919. After training as a physicist –doctorate in mathematical physics, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (1952), where he learnt atomic physics and quantum mechanics from Guido Beck, an Austrian expatriate who had been an assistant of Heisenberg–, he was professor of theoretical physics (1956-1966) and philosophy, which he taught at the University of Buenos Aires from 1957 to 1963. He was the first South American philosopher of science to be trained in science.

Driven to emigrate by the political situation of his native country, particularly due to his socialist leanings, Mario Bunge initially settled in Europe, then in Montréal, where in 1966 he joined the philosophy department at McGill University, and never looked back. His career as a researcher rapidly assumed international scope and led him on to countless activities as an editor, speaker, guest professor, learned society member, and recipient of honorary distinctions, etc.

As Michael R. Matthews –University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia– underline, the unifying thread of Mario Bunge’s scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialization is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognized – it is salutary to see the fruits of one person’s pursuit of the ‘Big’ scientific and philosophical picture.

Mario Bunge was the Frothingham Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at McGill University until his retirement in 2011 and is now Professor Emeritus in Philosophy.

He is author of over 80 books (including many translations into several languages) and some 500 articles mainly in English and Spanish, cofounder with logician Hugues Leblanc of the Society for Exact Philosophy, Mario Bunge set himself a task as an epistemologist, achieving a synthesis of rationalism and empiricism (Scientific Research, 1967, new version: Philosophy of Science, 1999), and also as a generalist philosopher and creator of a complete system, thanks to his monumental 8 volume Treatise on Basic Philosophy (1974-89), in which he defended conceptions on materialism and humanism. In his own cutting style, his Dictionary of Philosophy (1999) –the first edition of the Philosophical Dictionary–, accurately conveys this thought. Advocate of a precise philosophy “offering axiomatic and formalized expression of concepts and theories” he no less supported original positions on moral thought and politics. He is also the author of The Sociology-Philosophy Connection (1991), Finding Philosophy in Social Science (1996), Social Science under Debate. A Philosophical Perspective (1998), Philosophy in Crisis: The Need for Reconstruction (2001), Scientific Realism: Selected Essays of Mario Bunge (edited by Martin Mahner (2001), Matter and Mind. A Philosophical Inquiry (2010), Evaluating Philosophies (2012), and Medical Philosophy (2013).

Mario Bunge is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (from 1984) and the Royal Society of Canada (from 1992). He was awarded the Premio Príncipe de Asturias of Spain in 1982 and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1971.

Degrees

PhD in physico-mathematical sciences, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (1952)

Twenty honorary doctorates

Five honorary professorships

Teaching and research areas

Theoretical physics

Ontology

Epistemology

Philosophy of science

Philosophy of technology

Philosophy of mind

Value theory and ethics

Current research

Philosophy of the social sciences, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics

 

 

Contents

PREFACE	ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xiv
Part A: Basic Social Science	1
1 From Natural Science to Social Science	4
1 Nature and Society	5
2 The Natural Science/Social Science Divide	10
3 The Nomothetic/Idiographic Dichotomy	21
4 Biosociology and. Sociobiology	33
5 Demography and Geography	37
6 Social Psychology	41
7 Anthropology	47
8 Linguistics	57
2 Sociology	61
1 Agency and Structure	64
2 Class and Status, Role and Norm	66
3 Micro-Macro Relations	72
4 Coleman’s Linear System of Action	79
5 Economic Imperialism	83
6 Economicism Does Not Pay	88
7 Economic Sociology and Socio-Economics	90
8 Barbarians inside the Gates	93
3 Positive Economics	100
1 What Is Economics About?	102
2 Economic Concepts	107
3 Economic Assumptions	114
4 Laws and Rules, Theories and Models	123
5 Neoclassical Microeconomics: Rationality and Perfect Competition	127
6 Neoclassical Microeconomics Continued: Equilibrium and Price	136
7 Positive Macroeconomics	141
8 Ugly Facts versus Pretty Theory	147
4 Political Science	155
1 Units of Analysis and Power	159
2 Government and People: Autocracy to Democracy	167
3 Rational-Choice Politology	175
4 Public-Choice and Social-Choice Theories	180
5 Explaining and Predicting Political Events	188
6 Politics, Ideology, Morality	197
7 Domestic Politics	201
8 International Relations	211
5 Culturology	219
1 Idealism versus Materialism	223
2 Externalism versus Internalism	225
3 Sociology of Knowledge: Marx to Merton	229
4 The Antiscientific Reaction	234
5 Technology in Society	239
6 Social Science in Society	242
7 Ideology	246
8 The Market Approach to Culture	249
6 History	257
1 Historical Objectivity, Lies, and Forgeries	260
2 Materialism versus Idealism	266
3 Systemism versus Individualism and Holism	274
4 Law, Accident, Luck	279
5 Trends: Progress, Stagnation, Decline	283
6 Interpretation or Hypothesis?	286
7 Historical Explanation	289
8 Uses of History 291	291
Part B: Sociotechnology	297
7 Action Theory	306
1 Systemic Praxiology	310
2 Decision Theory	315
3 Collective-Action Theory	321
4 Austrian Praxiology	325
5 Reasons for the Failure of Rational-Choice Action Theory	328
6 Values and Norms	331
7 Policy	334
8 Planning	348
8 Law	354
1 Norm and Truth	356
2 Law and Morality	362
3 Legal Code and Legal Theory	365
4 Legal Reasoning	367
5 Private and Public	369
6 Rights and Duties	371
7 Crime and Punishment	374
8 Law’s Impotence	377
9 Management Technology	380
1 Strategy: Policy	382
2 Tactics: Planning	385
3 Management	387
4 Operations Research	394
5 Private and Public	397
6 Resource Management	399
7 Management and Politics	400
8 Rationality in Action	401
10 Normative Economics	403
1 Normative Macroeconomics	404
2 Economic Policy	407
3 Economic Planning	412
4 Welfare Economics	417
5 Capitalism: Old and New, Pro and Con	420
6 Statism: Fascist and Communist	430
7 Socialism as Cooperativism	431
8 Alternative: Integral Technodemocracy	434
11 Designing the Future	439
1 Macrosocial Issues and Their Inherent Values and Morals	440
2 Utopianism and Ideals without Illusions	441
3 Social Engineering: Piecemeal and Systemic	442
4 Top-Down Planning	444
5 Systemic Democratic Planning	446
6 Growth and Development	447
7 Integral and Sustainable Development	448
8 The Future of Social Studies	450
Part C: Appendices	455
1 Modelling Competition: A Systemic Approach	455
2 Modelling Cooperation: A Systemic Approach	456
3 A Production Model	458
4 Humbug Mathematical Economics	459
5 Modelling Secrecy Leaks	461
6 Newcomb’s Problem	462
7 A General Concept of Action	463
REFERENCES	467
INDEX OF NAMES	519
INDEX OF SUBJECTS	529

Critical reviews

“We should welcome the book for its author, subject, and style. He maps what is wrong and what is strong in energetic, opinionated prose. I can’t wait to teach from the published version, not to mention embellish my own methodological essays with bright quotation from it”.

Charles Tilly, Columbia University

“The book is scholarly yet lively; comprehensive yet unified around a few central powerful ideas; profound yet entertaining reading with one bon mot after another; unorthodox yet constructive; a sort of vademecum for the bewitched but critical rover through the manifold of contemporary social studies”.

Joseph Agassi, Tel Aviv and York Universities

“The main merit of this work is a wide range of relevant material, reliably and intelligently assembled, clearly presented. No one can read [this volume] without learning a great deal, and [it] could be used as backbone of a teaching course, or an intelligent person could use it in an initiation to each of the fields [covered by the book]. Clarity, erudition and range are the merits”.

The late Ernest Gellner, Central European University

A broad critical perspective on modern social science

This is the only book I know of where all disciplines of modern social science –sociology, economics, anthropology, political science, management science etc.– are included in a critical and informed discussion. Few social scientists or philosophers are bold (or foolish) enough to pass judgement on their discipline as a whole. Mario Bunge isn’t an expert in every discipline, but he’s close enough to articulate well-reasoned opinions on them all. He maintains that social science can be just as rigorous as natural science and that the failures of modern social science have been due to philosophical confusions. So he sets out to separate the wheat from the chaff philosophically. The crucial part is the mandatory interplay between theory and empirical study, which he stresses again and again.

 

He then puts the various social science disciplines to this philosophical test by directing particularly strong criticism against two developments in social science. The first is the popularity of relativistic and constructivistic theories which renounce scientific objectivity. Anthropology is the main target of this criticism. Amusingly, he always puts the word “interpretation” in scare quotes and condescendingly refers to the “hermeneuticists and postmodernists” whose irresponsible scepticism underlies what he calls the “Verstehen” school of social science. I think he fires away a little too indiscriminately in these sections, but some of his points are certainly valid.

 

The second object of criticism is the spreading of economic thought to disciplines other than economics, in the form of rational choice and public choice theory, for instance. Bunge’s thesis is that economic models which are detached from empirical confirmation are at most complementary, they cannot be the core of social science no matter how pretty the mathematical formalism may look. He also criticizes the presuppositions of micro- and macroeconomics quite strongly. This is in my opinion the best part of the book. Unlike many other philosophers he also has some ideas for better methods in social research. They may be provisional and incomplete, but they still offer a lot to think about for your next research proposal.

 

In my opinion the book loses focus a bit in the second part where the author discusses action theory, law, business management, social policy and economic policy. His goal is to complement his analysis of basic social science with sociotechnology (how society can be changed). He jumps quite quickly from one subject to another and perhaps overextends the argument a bit. He even ventures into political philosophy and articulates his preferred social order, “integral technodemocracy”, which seemed like an unnecessary addition in this book (but perhaps a good starting point for a new book).

 

In conclusion I certainly was impressed both by the breadth of material and the author’s deep understanding of social science fundamentals. I recommend this book to social scientists, social philosophers and to everyone who makes use of social science data in one way or another. There are about one thousand references here so you won’t have to look far for further reading. I’ve previously read “The sociology-philosophy connection” by the same author, but I think this book was clearly better.

T. Carlsson on August 29, 2012

More about Mario Bunge’s work

[For more information, we recommend the readers to refer to our previous presentation of Mario Bunge’s book: Finding Philosophy in Social Science in this section: Actualités: http://www.wcfel.org/lll/?page_id=2416].

BUNGE, Mario, “A systems design of the future”. Systems Science and Cybernetics, vol. II

©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Cf.:

http://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c02/E6-46-02-05.pdf

BERG, Axel Van Den, “The Social Sciences According to Mario Bunge”, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, vol. 31, n.º 1, March 2001, pp. 83-103.

http://pos.sagepub.com/content/31/1/83.extract

PICKEL, Andreas, “Mario Bunge’s Philosophy of Social Science”, Society, Vol. 37, n.º 4, May-June 2001, pp. 71-74.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12115-001-1026-5#page-1

OBIEDAT, A., “A Very Short Introduction to Mario Bunge and What to Read of His Numerous Books”, BookFinder 4U [Comments on Finding Philosophy in Social Science].

http://www.bookfinder4u.com/detail/0300066066.html

KURZMAN, Charles, “Can Understanding Undermine Explanation? The Confused Experience of Revolution”, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, vol. 34, nº. 3, September 2004, pp. 328-351. Cf.: **MB

http://kurzman.unc.edu/files/2011/06/Kurzman_Can_Understanding_Undermine_Explanation.pdf

SADOVNIKOV, Slava, “Systemism, Social Laws, and the Limits of Social Theory: Themes Out of Mario Bunge’s The Sociology-Philosophy Connection”, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, vol. 34, n.º 4, December 2004, pp. 536-587.

http://pos.sagepub.com/content/34/4/536.abstract

REIHLEN, Markus, Thorsten KLAAS-WISSING, and Torsten RINGBERG, “Metatheories in Management Studies: Reflections Upon Individualism, Holism, and Systemism”, Management, vol. 10, n.º 3, 2007, pp. 49-69. Cf.: **MB

http://www.cairn.info/zen.php?ID_ARTICLE=MANA_103_0049

MANZO, Gianluca, “Variables, Mechanisms, and Simulations: Can the Three Methods Be Synthesized? A Critical Analysis of the Literature”, Revue française de Sociologie, n.º 48, Supplement, 2007, pp. 35-71. Cf. : **MB

http://www.gemass.org/manzo/sites/default/files/on_variables_and_mechanisms_rfs_2007.pdf

CAMPA, Riccardo, “Making Science by Serendipity. A review of Rober K. Merton and Elinor Barber’s The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity, Journal of Evolution and Techonology, vol. 17, n.º 1, March 2008, pp. 75-83. Cf.:

http://jetpress.org/v17/campa.pdf

SEIFERT, Uwe “The Co-Evolution of Humans and Machines: A Paradox of Interactivity”, in SEIFERT, Uwe, Jin Hyun KIM, and Anthony MOORE (eds.), Paradoxes of Interactivity Perspectives for Media Theory, Human-Computer Interaction, and Artistic Investigations, Bielefeld (Germany): transcript Verlag, 2008, pp. 8-23.

http://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-89942-842-1/paradoxes-of-interactivity?c=1010

SZOSTAK, Rick, “Classifying Heterodoxy”, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 1, n.º 2, (Special issue 2008), pp. 97-126. Cf.:

http://www.jpe.ro/?id=autor&p=440

http://www.jpe.ro/pdf.php?id=2851

FILIPPO, Armando Di, “Latin American structuralism and economic theory”, CEPAL Review (Santiago, Chile), n.º 98, August 2009, pp. 175-196. Cf.:

http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/difilippo09.pdf

Task Force of the Spencer Foundation Educationl Research Training Grant Institutions, The Preparation of Aspiring Educational Researchers in the Empirical Qualitative and Quantitative Traditions of Social Science. Methodological Rigor, Social and Theoretical Relevance, And More, September 2009, pp. 146.

http://floden.wiki.educ.msu.edu/file/view/SPENCER_TASK_FORCE_FINAL_FINAL_REPORT%5B1%5D.pdf

KAIDESOJA, Tuukka, Studies on Ontological and Methodological Foundations of Critical Realism in the Social Sciences, Jyväskylä (Finland): University of Jyväskylä, December 5, 2009, pp. 65 (Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research, n.º 376). Cf.: **MB

https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/22601/9789513937706.pdf

DOBUSCH, Leonhard and Jakob KAPELLER, “Breaking New Paths: Theory And Method In Path Dependence Research”, Schmalenbach Business Review, n.º 65, July 2013, pp. 288-311. Cf.:

http://www.jakob-kapeller.org/images/pubs/2013-DobKap-Pfade-SBR.pdf

http://www.dobusch.net/pub/uni/Dobusch-Kapeller(2012)Striking_New_Paths-Preprint.pdf

The Scientific Philosophy of Mario Bunge. Selected Bibliography on the Scientific Philosophy of Mario Bunge. Cf.:

http://www.ontology.co/pdf/bungem.pdf

BUNGE, Mario, Chasing Reality: Strife over Realism,
Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2014 [2006], pp. xiv + 384
(Toronto Studies of Philosophy).
ISBN 13: 978-14-4262-822-9 (paperback).

About the book (from the publisher)
Chasing Reality deals with the controversies over the reality of the external world. Distinguished philosopher Mario Bunge offers an extended defence of realism, a critique of various forms of contemporary anti-realism, and a sketch of his own version of realism, namely hylorealism. Bunge examines the main varieties of antirealism – Berkeley’s, Hume’s, and Kant’s; positivism, phenomenology, and constructivism– and argues that all of these in fact hinder scientific research.
Bunge’s realist contention is that genuine explanations in the sciences appeal to causal laws and mechanisms that are not directly observable, rather than simply to empirical generalisations. Genuine science, in his view, is objective even when it deals with subjective phenomena such as feelings of fear. This work defends a realist view of universals, kinds, possibilities, and dispositions, while rejecting contemporary accounts of these that are couched in terms of modal logic and ‘possible worlds’.

BUNGE, Mario, A la caza de la realidad. La controversia sobre el realismo,
Barcelona: Gedisa editorial, 2007, pp. 456.
ISBN 13: 978-84-9784-123-8 (rústica).

Full description

Qualitative Novelty and the Unity of Knowledge, Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2014 [2003], pp. xiv + 330 (Toronto Studies of Philosophy). ISBN 13: 978-14-4262-821-2 (paperback).

 

 

BUNGE, Mario, Emergencia y convergencia. Novedad cualitativa y unidad del conocimieneto, Barcelona: Gedisa editorial, 2004, pp. 400. ISBN 13: 978-84-9784-019-4 (tapa blanda).

 

About the book (from the publisher)

Two problems continually arise in the sciences and humanities, according to Mario Bunge: parts and wholes and the origin of novelty. In Emergence and Convergence, he addresses these problems, as well as that of systems and their emergent properties, as exemplified by the synthesis of molecules, the creation of ideas, and social inventions.

Along the way, Bunge examines other topical problems, such as the search for the mechanisms underlying observable facts, the limitations of both individualism and holism, the reach of reduction, the abuses of Darwinism, the rational choice-hermeneutics feud, the modularity of the brain vs. the unity of the mind, the cluster of concepts around ‘maybe,’ the uselessness of many-worlds metaphysics and semantics, the hazards posed by Bayesianism, the nature of partial truth, the obstacles to improving medical diagnosis, and the formal conditions for the emergence of a cross-discipline.

Bunge is not interested in idle fantasies, but about many of the problems that occur in any discipline that studies reality or ways to control it. His work is about the merger of initially independent lines of inquiry, such as developmental evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, and socio-economics. Bunge proposes a clear definition of the concept of emergence to replace that of supervenience and clarifies the notions of system, real possibility, inverse problem, interdiscipline, and partial truth that occur in all fields.

Full description