ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book focuses on the history of scientific and philosophical thinking about mechanisms. It also focuses on the nature of mechanisms themselves; these are areas in which mechanical philosophy addresses basic ontological and metaphysical questions. The book explores the methodological and epistemological questions raised by the mechanistic approach to natural and social sciences. It offers a view of mechanisms and mechanistic approaches in a variety of scientific fields. The book also explores the relationship between mechanisms, causation, and laws of nature. It explains some inkling of the diversity of domains in which the methods of mechanistic science are fruitful, as well as the challenges to and limits of those methods. Mechanical philosophy is of ancient origin.
