Defending Science - Within Reason

This book explores the complexities of scientific evidence and the multifarious ways in which the sciences have refined and amplified the methods of everyday, empirical inquiry; articulates the ways in which the social sciences are like the natural sciences, and the ways in which they are different; disentangles the confusions of radical rhetoricians and cynical sociologists of science; exposes the evasions of apologists for religious resistance to scientific advances; weighs the benefits and the dangers of technology, tracks the efforts of the legal system to make the best use of scientific testimony, and tackles predictions of the eventual culmination, or annihilation, of the scientific enterprise.

Haack (arts and sciences, philosophy, and law, U. of Miami) defends science to explain the nature of the world, but in only quite a modest, qualified way, and from the perspective of a more general understanding of human cognitive capacities and limitations. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Publishers Weekly

Science has come under attack in recent years from philosophers and cultural critics who have described it as, among other sins, culturally determined, too often dependent on the biases of scientists. Haack, professor of philosophy and law at the University of Miami (Manifesto of a Passionate Moderate), takes a searching look at how science interacts with and is influenced by other areas of human endeavor. This year being the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA, Haack discusses how their writing style and in particular their use of the pronoun "we" made their now famous papers stand out. Science often interacts with the law in courts' use of expert testimony on defendants' mental state or physical evidence. Haack reviews the fascinating history of this tentative dance between law and science, and how in recent years the legal system has struggled to determine what scientific ideas can be considered as accepted beyond dispute. Religion and the concept of "intelligent design" also come under scrutiny. This chapter doesn't quite give advocates of guided evolution a fair hearing; the author overlooks some of their more subtle arguments. Haack does thoroughly demolish many of the sillier attacks on science as an expression of male domination and Western oppression and the like. With one thought-provoking discussion after another, the book is not an easy read, but those interested in the history of science and science buffs will find it to their liking. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Susan Haack (Coral Gables, FL) is Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts and Sciences, professor of philosophy, and professor of law at the University of Miami. She is the author of numerous highly acclaimed books, including Defending Science-Within Reason; Philosophy of Logics; Evidence and Inquiry; Deviant Logic, Fuzzy Logic: Beyond the Formalism; and Manifesto of a Passionate Moderate: Unfashionable Essays; and the editor of Pragmatism, Old and New. She is one of the handful of living philosophers in Peter King's 100 Philosophers: The Life and Work of the World's Greatest Thinkers, and she was included in the Sunday Independent's 2005 list of the ten most important women philosophers of all time.