Smoke and mirrors : how science reflects reality / James Robert Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, James Robert.

Series:

Philosophical issues in science.

Philosophical issues in science series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Realism.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Physical Description:

viii, 200 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Realism is an enlightening story, a tale which enriches our experience and makes it more intelligible. Yet this wonderful picture of humanity's best efforts at knowledge has been badly bruised by numerous critics. James Robert Brown in Smoke and Mirrors fights back against figures such as Richard Rorty, Bruno Latour, Michael Ruse and Hilary Putnam who have attacked realist accounts of science. But this volume is not wholly devoted to combating Rorty and others who blow smoke in our eyes; the second half is concerned with arguing that there are some amazing ways in which science mirrors the world. The role of abstraction, abstract objects and a priori ways of getting at reality are all explored in showing how science reflects reality. Smoke and Mirrors is a defence of science and knowledge in general as well as a defence of a particular way of understanding science. It is of interest to all those who wish or need to know how science works.

Contents:

part Part I INTRODUCTION

chapter 1 EXPLAINING THE SUCCESS OF SCIENCE

part Part II SMOKE

chapter 2 RORTY’S SOLIDARITY

chapter 3 LATOUR’S PROSAIC SCIENCE

chapter 4 THE NATURALISM OF RUSE

chapter 5 PUTNAM’S VERIFICATION

part Part III MIRRORS

chapter 6 Knowledge—in the abstract

chapter 7 PHENOMENA

chapter 8 WHAT IS THE VECTOR POTENTIAL?

chapter 9 PROOF AND TRUTH IN THE ABSTRACT REALM.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-195) and index.

ISBN:

81-7223-746-4

1-134-87356-5

1-134-87357-3

1-280-19486-3

0-203-05304-4

9780203053041

OCLC:

437078184