The Tyranny of Science
1. Auflage April 2011
180 Seiten, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Paul Feyerabend is one of the greatest philosophers of science of
the 20th century and his book Against Method is an
international bestseller. In this new book he masterfully weaves
together the main elements of his mature philosophy into a gripping
tale: the story of the rise of rationalism in Ancient Greece that
eventually led to the entrenchment of a mythical 'scientific
worldview'.
In this wide-ranging and accessible book Feyerabend challenges some
modern myths about science, including the myth that 'science
is successful'. He argues that some very basic assumptions
about science are simply false and that substantial parts of
scientific ideology were created on the basis of superficial
generalizations that led to absurd
misconceptions about the nature of human life. Far from solving the
pressing problems of our age, such as war and poverty, scientific
theorizing glorifies ephemeral generalities, at the cost of
confronting
the real particulars that make life meaningful. Objectivity and
generality are based on abstraction, and as such, they come at a
high price. For abstraction drives a wedge between our thoughts and
our
experience, resulting in the degeneration of both. Theoreticians,
as opposed to practitioners, tend to impose a tyranny on the
concepts they use, abstracting away from the subjective experience
that makes
life meaningful. Feyerabend concludes by arguing that practical
experience is a better guide to reality than any theory, by itself,
ever could be, and he stresses that there is no tyranny that cannot
be resisted, even if it is exerted with the best possible
intentions.
Provocative and iconoclastic, The Tyranny of Science is one
of Feyerabend's last books and one of his best. It will be
widely read by everyone interested in the role that science has
played, and continues to play, in the shaping of the modern world.
Chapter 2 The Disunity of Science
Chapter 3 The Abundance of Nature
Chapter 4 Dehumanizing Humans
Editor's notes
Literature
lecturing at its best. Feyerabend offers an intriguing,
entertaining and very original application of the history and
philosophy of science to contemporary social, intellectual and
public issues."
British Journal for the History of Science
"Each of the four lectures is excellent and interrelateswith the
others. Feyerabend's appealing and evocative entrances to
scientific ideological claims permeate, and their lucidity will
make identification and extraction of key concepts readily possible
for scholars."
The Year's Work in Cultural and Critical
Theory
"Offers intrepid scholars much to go on (on the relationship
between Wittgenstein and Feyerabend), as well as being an
entertaining and vigorous philosophical exercise in itself."
Philosophical Investigations
"In this posthumously published book, the maverick philosopher of
science Paul Feyerabend questions the dominance of abstract,
theoretical, objectivist science over more human modes of
thought."
New Scientist
"Stimulating, thought-provoking, and hugely
entertaining."
Morning Star
"Its clear conversational style makes the book a useful
introduction to Feyerabend's thought."
Claremont Review of Books
"Both the style of presentation, and the question and answer
sessions, will make this book accessible to a popular readership.
It will be met with enthusiasm by those with a prior engagement
with Feyerabend's work."
Metascience
"Feyerabend is not attacking science but rather the ideology of
science and the metaphysical pronouncements of philosophers and
theoreticians. He makes an eloquent and imaginative plea for the
importance of the diverse forms of knowledge embodied in the
practicalities of everyday life."
David Bloor, University of Edinburgh
"The Tyranny of Science is no work of arid scholarship or
technical philosophy. It is the work of a philosophical
story-teller who recounts 'fairytales' to situate the ideas he
discusses. Feyerabend brings science and philosophy down from the
heights of abstract theory to the ground of practice and experience
which animates them."
Howard Sankey, University of Melbourne
