About this title: Modern philosophy of science has paid great attention to the understanding of scientific 'practice', in contrast to concentration on scientific 'method'. Paul Feyerabend's acclaimed work, which has contributed greatly to this new emphasis, shows the deficiencies of some widespread ideas about the nature of knowledge. He argues that the only ...
read more
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: 3rd ed.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Verso
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780860916468ISBN:0860916464
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. clean text, tight binding, minor shelf wear to cover/corners, sticker on back cover, nice reading copy, help support independent booksellers! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 279 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: 3rd ed.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Verso
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780860916468ISBN:0860916464
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 279 p. Audience: General/trade. former owner's name on the first page, otherwise clean. read more
Edition: 3 REV ED
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: VERSO BOOKS Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780860916468ISBN:0860916464
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 352 pages. (352 pages) the third edition of this text contains a new preface, as well as paul feyerabend's further contributions to the philosophy of science. feyerabend takes account both of recent debates on science and of the impact of scientific products and practices on the human community. edition 3 rev ed (Paperback) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Verso Books
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780860916468ISBN:0860916464
Description: The third edition of this text contains a new preface, as well as Paul Feyerabend's further contributions to the philosophy of science. Feyerabend takes account both of recent debates on science and of the impact of scientific products and practices o... read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: VERSO, LONDON
Date Published: PUB 1978
ISBN-13:9780860917007ISBN:0860917002
Description: NEAR FINE IN PICTORIAL WRAPS. THIRD IMPRESSION 1980. BOOK IS FINE WITHOUT ANY MARKS TO THE BINDING OR THE TEXT OTHER THAN A PREVIOUS OWNER'S DATED NAME ON THE VERSO OF THE FRONT COVER. AN EXCELLENT CLEAN AND UNMARKED COPY WITH JUST A TRACE OF OCCASIONAL WEAR TO EDGES. read more
Description: New. DISPATCHED FROM UNITED KINGDOM. NO EXPEDITED SHIPPING! Please note orders are confirmed immediately and may take 2-3 business days to ship. This processing time is in addition to the shipping time. Please allow 10-14 days for delivery. Brand new item. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: G20091122101337D. read more
Description: Like New. SHIPS FROM GERMANY. NO EXPEDITED SHIPPING! Allow 10-14 business days for delivery. Please always check the language in the product description section. Few left in stock-order soon. Selling online since 1995. Code: L20091115055750I. read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly imported from the UK using DHL or Royal Mail international mail WITH TRACKING NUMBER. Delivery is typically 5-10 working days. Please do not select expedited shipping. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Description: New. Please note that deliveries to addresses in the UK and Europe will be in 4-14 business days. Other countries should refer to Alibris standard times. Feyerabrend argues that intellectual progress relies on the creativity of the scientist, against the authority of science. ISBN10: 0860916464. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Verso
Date Published: 1993-09
ISBN-13:9780860916468ISBN:0860916464
Description: Good. Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly imported from the UK using International Priority Airmail. Delivery is typically 5-10 working days. Please do not select expedited shipping. Heavier and more expensive items have tracking number. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Verso
Date Published: 1993-09
ISBN-13:9780860916468ISBN:0860916464
Description: Good. Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE that we do not offer expedited shipping. Orders placed with the priority shipping option will automatically be canceled. Feyerabrend argues that intellectual progress relies on the creativity of the scientist, against the authority of science. ISBN10: 0860916464. read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly shipped from our UK warehouse using Royal Mail International Priority mail. Heavier or more expensive books are shipped with a TRACKING NUMBER. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly imported from the UK using International Priority Airmail. Delivery is typically 5-10 working days. Please do not select expedited shipping. Heavier and more expensive items have tracking number. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
"Truth and meaning are perhaps two of the most polarizing issues one can write about. Humans are generally quite defensive about their core beliefs and unwilling to accept direct criticism on them. Most books that attempt to do so simply end up pandering to their already faithful disciples (just how many evangelicals do you think have read The Gold Delusion?). Those who back "science" often declare it the absolute monarch of knowledge, place it atop an unassailable throne, and condemn all who refuse to bow as mentally bankrupt. Given that I was a staunch royalist, finding a book that probed me on these issues was surprising and enlightening.
To irresponsibly sum it up in one sentence, Against Method's message is: "Science is not a particular set of values, rules, or methods; it's simply whatever works." This argument has two main parts. First, how we actually do science has very little resemblance to how we say we do science. Second, how we say we do science would be an awful method anyways.
Below are my notes while reading. They are not necessarily from the book but they are certainly inspired by it. Following, I present a few issues with the book (though if you've read the book yourself, you'll notice I take issue with the book in my notes as well).
EDUCATION -Scientific theories are passed on naked of their historical context. Argument occurs and only the results are passed on. The strengths of opponents and weaknesses of the idea are lost and what once had to be qualified and carefully argued as an "enemy theory" is now taken for granted and may even be taken as platitude. -Mainstream theory is so crystallized in education that it becomes taken for granted and no longer carefully examined or criticized. -Like the humanities, science must encourage debate and theory in class (for example, a TA might lead with "Can you explain inheritance without genetics in an attractive way?).
ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE -Experience and observation are colored by perceptual tools, prevailing theory, culture, and the intricacies of the human brain, at the very least. -Intellectual play makes science more productive and more fun. -Adventurers consult maps but also ignore then "correct" them. -Results are starting points for further explanation. In science, you never "arrive" at your destination.
NATURAL INTERPRETATIONS -Natural interpretations are biases so common they are "natural." -They can arise from ubiquity in education, continual human sensory experience, and historical precedent. -They are extremely difficult to detect. One way is to assume a competing theory is correct and discuss what must change.
OBSERVATION LANGUAGES -Observation languages, like verbal ones, seem absolute until you encounter others. -Certain observation languages are great for basic survival but the goal of the scientist is not survival; it is discovery. -Unfamiliar and counterintuitive observation languages are often great vehicles for discovery.
COMPARING THEORIES -Prevailing scientific theories are a product of politics, history, power, economics, religion, culture, philosophy, evolution, neuroscience, memetics, and many other influences. Divorcing them from their stories discards a great deal of important information. -Ideas are often presented before the means or modes of thinking to verify them are available and are therefore often prematurely disposed of. For this reason, we cannot ignore old passed-over ideas on the assumption that they are wrong. -Historical precedence is not a virtue. Yes, we may need to print new books, change university courses, etc but perhaps we must rethink such rigid investments instead of compromising on the ideas. -No theory agrees with all the facts available, so disagreement with facts is no criterion for disregard. -New theories are like grains of sand in a clam and can, though seen as an irritation at first, seed an aggregate of new ideas that form a pearl of science. -New theories don't necessarily have to solve or adhere to the old problems of old theories. Theories describe their own problem spaces.
OTHER DISCIPLINES -We cannot ignore the "non-sciences." People believe in them for some reason and by investigating this reason, we, at the very least, learn something about memetics and the human mind. -Other disciplines may also discover productive world views capable of framing observations long before those observations are actually possible. Looking to them for assistance, particularly in times of new or unexplained data, could prove to be helpful. -One major goal of science is personal pleasure. Attacking other disciplines for their focus on personal pleasure is indefensible for science.
ISSUES -The anarchistic approach to science is particularly compelling for the individual scientist because it is free of restrictions. It grants him the freedom to study whatever he likes in whatever way he pleases. Scientists as individuals then might be necessarily biased towards it. -The anarchistic approach to science also, however, grants credence to fields traditionally outside science (like Chinese traditional medicine and homeopathy). This approach challenges science's unassailable claim to the purveyor of all knowledge. Science as an institution then might be necessarily biased against it. -I believe science can be defined, not by method but by intent: Science, united under the shared goal of discovery, is the open and continuous questioning of nature accompanied by predictions and, to the greatest extent possible, their verification. (Alternatively, science is a bundle of current and possible procedures unified under the shared goal of understanding and predicting.) -This book does not stand alone particularly well. Significant parts of it are responses to debates and other books that aren't always introduced. I'd highly recommend reading "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn first. It presents much of the backstory for "Against Method" in a more self-contained and accessible way."
"Siang itu di Gedung II FISIP Uni. Djatinangor Darussalam ada kuliah Metode Penelitian HI, saya datang dan langsung mengambil kursi di belakang. Bukan karena setia menjaga espri de corps gank Kabel (kami anak belakang) tapi karena untuk topik yang akan dibahas saya belum baca dan merasa lebih baik mendengarkan saja.
Kuliah di mulai. Bu Yunita membuka dengan menanyakan mahasiswanya apa pendapat dan posisi mereka soal paper epsitemologi yang dibagikan itu. Waktu itu saya belum tuntas membacanya. Baru ingat ada kelompok epirisime, naive ratioanlity, serta nama-nama seperti Lakatos, Kuhn, dan Poper. Belum sampai akhir paper yang dia bagikan. Pendapat dari mahasiswa bermuncullan. Saya antara bisa mengikuti dan bingung.
Tidak tahan jadi kambing congek, saya ikut bersuara. "Bagaimana kalau memilih untuk tidak masuk dalam kelompok-kelompok itu?" hehehe Bukannya so' anti pengelompokan, tetapi mah sebenernya belum paham aja. Bu Yun langsung membalas, "kalau begitu kamu Feyerabend!" Nah loh? Kok saya bisa dikelompokan sama penulis buku ini? Namanya aja baru saya dengar pas saat itu. Saya belum sampai pada bagian tentang epistemological anarchism si Feyerabend.
Makin pusing saya!
Pulang kuliah, akhirnya pinjem buku dari teman yang sudah mempotokopi (mahasiswa dunia ketiga bo'. potokopi jamak!). Ternyata Feyerabend ini kelompok orang yang santai dan gak suka terkotak-kotak apalagi generalisasi ilmu pengetahuan model positivist. Bahkan untuk menjelaskan mengapa Helio sentrisnya Galileo menjadi paradigma dalam astronomi, Feyerabend menyatakannya bukan semata keunggulan penjelasan epsitemologis atau rasional tetapi juga faktor retorika, propaganda, serta faktor sosial lainnya hehehe (bertahun kemudian saya membaca tentang discourse approach yang digunakan menentang penjelasan epistemic communities approach Pter M. Haas soal lahirnya Montreal Protocol. ini agak idem dito sama penjelasan si Feyerabend)
Yah akhirnya saya paham soal labeling oleh si ibu Yun di kelas tadi. Yah gak gitu juga sih yah, wong saya belum paham aja, bukan memilih satu kotak dengan si bapak satu ini yah yah yah!
PS: Buat Bu Yunita (kalo baca), Bu saya sudah lebih fokus kan kalo nulis begini? hehehe Salam dari Nanto Fokus..."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
