A rigorous examination of the assumptions underlying scientific inquiry, with special attention being paid to:
*Causation
*The relationship between the causal order and the spatiotemporal order
*Probability (specifically, the distinction between statistical probability and explanatory probability)
*Causation in relation to determinism
*Different kinds of determinism
*Causation in relation to prediction
*Factors limiting the scope and accuracy of prediction
*Data-modeling vs. truth-identification (the convergence of the two in psychology, the divergence of the two in the physical sciences)
*Interdisciplinary reduction
*The distinctive nature of psychology
*Substantive but under-examined empirical questions within the discipline of psychology relating to the different kinds of psychopathy and to the distinction between psychopathy and non-psychopathic (in some cases counter-psychopathic) criminality
*The concept of a datum
*The distinction between data and truths and, more generally, between non-propositional and propositional content
*The linguistic basis of discursive thought and scientific procedure
The last chapter of the present work contains definitions of every philosophy-specific term occurring in the book, along with an analysis of the corresponding concept.
