Abstract

How can we explain change and the occurrence of novelty? Are changes governed by natural laws or do they happen by chance? In this book, the author analyses explanatory models of the so-called new mechanists in terms of the occurrence of new entities and their epistemological and metaphysical background assumptions. At the same time, her investigation is a methodological attempt to readdress questions at the boundary between scientific explanation and metaphysics, such as in the debate about free will.