The taming of chance /
"Shows how by the late nineteenth century it became possible to think of statistical patterns as explanatory in themselves, and to regard the work as not necessarily deterministic in character. In the same period the idea of human nature was displaced by a model of normal people with laws of di...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge [England] ; New York :
Cambridge University Press,
1990.
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| Series: | Ideas in context
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "Shows how by the late nineteenth century it became possible to think of statistical patterns as explanatory in themselves, and to regard the work as not necessarily deterministic in character. In the same period the idea of human nature was displaced by a model of normal people with laws of dispersion. These two parallel transformations fed into each other, so that chance made the world seem less capricious: it was legitimated because it brought order out of chaos. Professor Hacking argues that these developments have led to a new style of scientific reasoning gaining its hold upon us. The greater the level of indeterminism in our conception of the world and of people, the more we expect control and intervention in our lives, and the less we expect freedom"--Back cover. |
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| Physical Description: | xiii, 264 p. ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-256) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0521380146 9780521380140 0521388848 (pbk.) 9780521388849 (pbk.) |