Defending Science, Within Reason: Between Scientism and Cynicism
by Susan Haack
Prometheus Books, $28.00, ISBN 1-59102-117-0
Susan Haack, professor of philosophy and of law at the University of Miami, discusses the many different views on science and deals with the illusion of a “scientific community” or “the” scientific method. To demarcate the borders between science and non-science is not as easy as some claim.
Scientific inquiry can best be compared to solving a crossword puzzle, using bits and pieces gathered from the works of fellow scientists, standing on the shoulders of those before, and avoiding standing on the shoulders of crackpots.
The social sciences have their merits and pitfalls: the differences between understanding and explaining, between honesty and bias are not always obvious. This seems like kicking-in open doors. The science critics are dealt with, the debunkers who claim that knowledge and rationality are relative to social context and political influences. Haack discusses the differences between scientific and literary texts, the sometimes dubious competence of scientific experts in legal trials, and the relations between science and religion. She elaborates on the pros and cons, and illustrates well, but do not expect clear answers. But then she strongly deals with the anti-science movements.
Science is not a religion, white, male dominant and Western, a mere construct of its time and place. The results endure and are valid also in other societies, although science is not the only way of acquiring knowledge.
One also has to see the difference between inquiry and advocacy, and the dangers of mixing them, well-illustrated by the negative influence of dictatorships and theocracy on science. She cites Hitler: “We stand at the end of the age of reason, a new era of magical explanation of the world is rising”.
She ends by discussing whether there will ever be an end to science, and whether the ultimate laws of physics will ever be discovered. Those who are already very well acquainted with the philosophy of science literature should enjoy this book.
