Review by Choice Review
Norris offers a detailed defense of scientific realism against the skeptical doctrines now dominant in the philosophy of science. These doctrines include ontological relativity, meaning holism, radical incommensurability between rival scientific theories, and the view that science is a cultural construct whose objects can have no reality outside a particular context of humanly significant meanings. Norris paraphrases--with extensive quotations from Bachelard, Derrida, Feyerabend, Gadamer, Hansen, Kuhn, Quine, Rorty, and others--the arguments for these doctrines and points out the difficulties each faces in accounting for scientific progress. He gives special attention to Shapin and Schaffer's analysis of the Hobbes/Boyle controversy over the existence of the vacuum and to Edward Constant's history of jet-powered flight. Written primarily for readers who have some acquaintance with deconstructionists and with Kuhn's analysis of scientific revolutions to show how shaky are the premises underlying strong claims for the cultural relativism of science. Most scientists will find the book supportive of their own belief in realism, while philosophers of science will likely note that the case for an objective reality remains unproven. Graduates through professionals. A. B. Stewart emeritus, Antioch College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
