mechanism.ucsd.edu
The quest for explanation in science, especially the life sciences, is to discover the mechanism responsible for a phenomenon of interest. The mechanical philosophy of the 17th and 18th century championed the idea that natural phenomena could be explained as mechanisms, but this approach was largely ignored in 20th century philosophy of science, which gave laws pride of place in explanation. Recently, however, interests in mechanism has rekindled in philosophy of science. This page will soon become a portal to the new interest in mechanistic philosophy of science.