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Search - Science and the Quest for Meaning:

Science and the Quest for Meaning
Author: Alfred I. Tauber

In this deeply thoughtful exploration, Alfred Tauber, a practicing scientist and highly regarded philosopher, eloquently traces the history of the philosophy of science, seeking in the end to place science within the humanistic context from which it originated. Avoiding the dogmatism that has defined both extremes in the recent Science Wars and ... more »presenting a conception of reason that lifts the discussion out of the interminable debates about objectivity and neutrality, Tauber offers a way of understanding science as an evolving relationship between facts and the values that govern their discovery and applications. This timely philosophy of science presents a centrist but highly consequential view, wherein truth and objectivity can function as working ideals and serve as pragmatic tools within the sociological context in which they reside. For if the humanization of science is to reach completion, it must reveal not only the meaning it receives from its social and cultural settings but also that which it lends to them.Packed with well-chosen case studies, Science and the Quest for Meaning is a trust-worthy and engaging introduction to the history of, and the current debate surrounding, the philosophy of science.

CONTENTS

Introduction: Concerning Scientific Reason

1. What Is Science?

2. Nineteenth-Century Positivism

3. The Fall of Positivism

4. The Science Wars

5. Science in Its Socio-Political Contexts

Conclusion: The Challenge of Coherence

Read the entire Introduction and part of Chapter 1 at the Baylor University Press fan page on Facebook.

"Growing up in the Sputnik era during the 1950s, I enjoyed what appears now to have been a unique education. Science assumed an importance hitherto unimagined prior to the Soviet challenge, and to prepare the country for possible assault, beside air raid simulations, I studied new math and was enrolled in advanced science courses. Drilled in facts, disciplined in scientific method, and buoyed by the wonder of nature, I saw a future bright with the scientific enterprise. Perhaps I too would become an investigator. In that spirit, an even more important foundation was being set for myself, namely a sense that science offered something close to true knowledge as the technical mastery of nature proceeded with breath-taking achievements. Weren t we about to embark for the moon? Such mammoth enterprises were undertaken under the banner of truth, and truth was attained through objective methods. It seemed that science defined its own domain, and not only remained insulated from common human foibles, but followed methods that revealed Truth. This Legend (Kitcher 1993), simple and distorted as it might be, nevertheless was cherished by its believers. Indeed, every Saturday morning Mr. Wizard appeared on television to elucidate nature s mysteries, and thereby confirm the precepts taught to me. The shades of grey were apparent on the screen; the colors were not. That was the world in which I awakened, one seemingly simpler than today...." --from the Introduction

ISBN-13: 9781602582101
ISBN-10: 1602582106
Publication Date: 9/1/2009
Pages: 256
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Baylor University Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

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