{"title":"John Dupre","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"disorder-of-things-book-john-dupre-9780674212602","title":"The Disorder of Things","description":"The great dream of philosophers and scientists has been to give a complete account of the order of things. The articulation of such a dream in the 20th century has been expressed in the idea of a unity of science. John Dupre systematically attacks the idea of scientific unity by showing how its underlying assumptions are at odds with the basic conclusions of science itself. In its stead, the author gives us a metaphysical interpretation much more in keeping with what science tells us about the world. The order presupposed by scientific unity is expressed in the classical philosophical doctrines of essentialism, materialist reductionism, and determinism. Employing examples from biology, that most \"disordered\" of sciences, Dupre subjects each of these doctrines to detailed and devastating criticism. He also identifies the shortcomings of contemporary approaches to scientific disunity, such as constructivism and extreme empiricism. He argues that we should adopt a \"moderate realism\" consistent with pluralistic science. Dupre's proposal for a \"promiscuous realism\" acknowledges the existence of a fundamentally disordered world, in which different projects or perspectives may reveal distinct, somewhat isolated, but nevertheless perfectly real, domains of partial order. This argument makes connections with discussions of science and value, especially in the work of feminist scholars. In Dupre's view, we have a great deal of choice about which scientific projects to pursue, a choice that can be informed only by value judgements. Such choices determine not only what kinds of order we observe in nature, but also what kinds of order we impose on the world we observe.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50762562044177,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50762564829457,"sku":"CIN0674212606G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0674212606.jpg?v=1751136453"},{"product_id":"darwin-s-legacy-book-john-dupre-9780192803375","title":"Darwin's Legacy","description":"The theory of evolution has fundamentally changed our view of the universe and our place in it. By providing a radically new vision of the origin of human beings, it challenged long-held assumptions about our own significance, and undermined the major arguments for the existence of God. But almost 150 years after the publication of Darwin's \"Origin of Species\" these implications are still not properly understood, and in some sectors of society they are actively resisted. The last decade has also seen the rise of a new field, evolutionary psychology, which takes the theory of evolution to provide insight into aspects of human culture and behaviour as diverse as language, morality, sexuality, and art. This book shows that although there are particular aspects of the theory of evolution which remain controversial, and issues still to be settled, there can no longer be any doubt that the basis of the theory is true. It examines the consequences for our view of human nature, religion, and non-human animals. John Dupre then investigates the appropriation of evolutionary biology by psychologists, and argues that their claims are largely spurious: despite its status as one of the most important scientific ideas of all time, the theory of evolution has very little to tell us about the details of human nature and human behaviour.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50805754593553,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50805754855697,"sku":"GOR003905094","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0192803379.jpg?v=1751323685"},{"product_id":"sermons-on-various-subjects-by-john-dupre-second-edition-book-john-dupre-9781140781417","title":"Sermons on Various Subjects. by John Dupre, ... 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He reveals how the advance of genetic science is changing our view of the constituents of life, and shows how an understanding of microbiology will overturn standard assumptions about the living world.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52433310515473,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52433311170833,"sku":"NLS9780198701224","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780198701224.jpg?v=1759177589"},{"product_id":"humans-and-other-animals-book-john-dupre-9780199247097","title":"Humans and Other Animals","description":"John Dupre explores the ways in which we categorize animals, including humans, and comes to refreshingly radical conclusions. He opposes the idea that there is only one legitimate way of classifying things in the natural world, the 'scientific' way. The lesson we should learn from Darwin is to reject the idea that each organism has an essence that determines its necessary place in the unique hierarchy of things. Nature is not like that: it is not organized in a single system. For instance, there is no universal principle by which organisms can be sorted into species. We are obliged to accept that different classificatory schemes are equally valid, and to take a pluralistic view of biology and the human sciences. These provocative and readable essays move on to discuss a set of contentious topics relating to human nature. To start with, Dupre argues that the concept of a universal human nature should be rejected. He questions the relevance of evolution to explanation of human behaviour, and casts doubt on the concept of normality in human behaviour. He shows that misunderstanding of biology and evolution has lead to widespread misconceptions about human sex and gender-in particular, about sexual behaviour and gender roles. The books concludes with a pair of essays about the differences between humans and animals, which may not be quite so clear-cut as we think.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53105560650001,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53105560879377,"sku":"GOR001791888","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780199247097.jpg?v=1770395358"},{"product_id":"sermons-on-various-subjects-by-john-dupre-second-edition-book-john-dupre-9781379414292","title":"Sermons on Various Subjects. By John Dupré, ... 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