Overview

Do knowledge and science arise from the application of canons of rationality and scientific method? Or is all our scientific knowledge caused by socio-political factors, or by our interests in the socio-political - the view of sociologists of ""knowledge""? Does it result from interplay of relations of power - the view of Michel Foucault? Or does our knowledge arise from ""the will to power"" - the view of Nietzsche? This volume sets out to critically examine the theses of those who would debunk the idea of rational explanation. The book is wide-ranging. The theories of method of Quine, Kuhn, Feyerabend (amongst others) are discussed and related to the views of Marx, Foucault, Wittgenstein and Nietzsche as well as sociologists of science such as Mannheim and Bloor. The author provides a wide interpretative framework which links the doctrines espoused by many of these authors; it is argued that they inherit many of the difficulties in the Strong Programme in the sociology of ""knowledge"", and that they fail to reconcile the normativity of knowledge with their naturalism. It is argued that neither relativists, sceptics, nihilists, sociologists of ""knowledge"" nor the postmodernists successfully debunk the claims of rational explanation, far from it: these theorists presuppose much of the theory of methodology they deny.

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Author:   R. Nola
Publisher:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Imprint:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Edition:   2003 ed.
Volume:   230
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 3.10cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   2.200kg
ISBN:  

9781402010422

ISBN 10:   1402010427
Pages:   559
Publication Date:   28 February 2003
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

I: Knowledge, Science And The Epistemological Enterprise: Synopsis Of Part I.- 1: The Critical Tradition And Some Of Its Discontents.- 2: The Problem Of Knowledge.- 3: Naturalism And Norms Of Reason And Method.- II: THE POVERTY OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: SYNOPSIS OF PART II.- 4: Some German Connections: Marx And Mannheim.- 5: The Edinburgh Connection I: The Strong Programme And The Social Causes Of Scientific Belief.- 6: The Edinburgh Connection Ii: Strong And Wrong.- 7: The Wittgenstein Connection: The Social And The Rational.- III: The French Connection: Foucault: Synopsis Of Part Iii.- 8: An Archaeological Dig Through Foucault’S Texts.- 9: Genealogy, Power And Knowledge.- IV: The German Connection: Nietzsche: Synopsis Of Part IV.- 10: Nietzsche’S Genealogy of Belief And Morality.- 11: Epilogue.- References.- Name Index.

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