Computational methods such as computer simulations, Monte Carlo methods, and agent-based modeling have become the dominant techniques in many areas of science. Extending Ourselves contains the first systematic philosophical account of these new methods, and how they require a different approach to scientific method. Paul Humphreys draws a parallel between the ways in which such computational methods have enhanced our abilities to mathematically model the world, and the more familiar ways in which scientific instruments have expanded our access to the empirical world. This expansion forms the basis for a new kind of empiricism, better suited to the needs of science than the older anthropocentric forms of empiricism. Human abilities are no longer the ultimate standard of epistemological correctness. Humphreys also includes arguments for the primacy of properties rather than objects, the need to consider technological constraints when appraising scientific methods, and a detailed account of how the path from computational template to scientific application is constructed. This last feature allows us to hold a form of selective realism in which anti-realist arguments based on formal reconstructions of theories can be avoided. One important consequence of the rise of computational methods is that the traditional organization of the sciences is being replaced by an organization founded on computational templates. Extending Ourselves will be of interest to philosophers of science, epistemologists, and to anyone interested in the role played by computers in modern science.

保罗·汉弗莱斯（Paul William Humphreys），美国弗吉尼亚大学哲学系教授，曾任美国科学基金委员会副主席，美国哲学学会国际部主任，弗吉尼亚大学哲学系主任等，兼任国际著名杂志Synthese，Philosophy of Science，American Philosophical Quarterly等编委，近年来尤以其在科学哲学以及有关突现的认识论研究、计算机科学哲学等方面的研究，闻名于欧美哲学界。著有《解释的或然性一一社会科学、医学和物理科学中的因果解释（The Chances of Explanation：Causal Explanation in the Sociai，Medical，and Physical Sciences）、《突现的哲学解释》（Emergence：A Philosophical Account），主编《牛津科学哲学手册>（Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Science）、《突现——科学与哲学当代读本》（Emergence：Contemporary Readings in Science and Philosophy）等书。

苏湛，中国科学院大学副教授，兼任中国自然辩证法研究会物理学哲学专业委员会副秘书长，中国科学技术史学会科学文化专业委员会秘书，中国科学技术史学会物理学史专业委员会理事。研究方向为物理学哲学、物理学史。著有《看得见的中国科技史》、《十一世纪中国的科学、技术与社会》，译有《哈拉维与基因改良食品）（合译）、《科幻文学的批评与建构》（合译）等。

董春雨，北京师范大学教授，博士生导师，兼任中国自然辩证法研究会副秘书长；北京市自然辩证法研究会副理事长；《自然辩证法研究》副主编等。研究方向为物理学哲学、系统科学哲学、科学哲学。

孙卫民，美国加利福尼亚州立大学北岭分校教授，以科学哲学、认识论与形而上学、逻辑学和心灵哲学等方面的研究见长。