Product Description

This new book by Paul Feyerbrand offers a vigorous challenge to the scientific rationalism the underlies Western ideals of 'progress' and 'development', whose damaging sociological and ecological consequences are now widely recognized. For all their variety of theme and occasion, the essays in Farewell to Reason share a consistent philosophical purpose. Whether discussing Greek art and thought, vindicating the Church's battle with Galileo, exploring the development of quantum physics or exposing the dogmatism of Karl Popper, Feyerbend defends a relativist and historical notion of the sciences. The appeal to reason, he insists, is empty, and must be replaced by a notion of science that subordinates it to the needs of citizens and communities. Provocative, polemical and rigorously argued, Farewell to Reason will infuriate Feyerbend's critics and delight his many admirers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176574 in Books
• Published on: 1987-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 327 pages

Review
"An audacious thinker, a brilliant polemicist, an iconoclast..." - Publishers Weekly "This is a lovely book. Feyerbend's prose is sparkling and his writing is deeply learned." - New Statesman

About the Author
Paul Feyerbend is Professor of Philosophy in the University of California at Berkely, and Professor of the Philosophy Science at the Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich. His studies included physics, mathematics, astronomy and theatre and opera production before he turned to philosophy. His numerous articles in professional and more popular journals reflect the variety of his interests. His most recent books in English are Against Method and Science in a Free Society, both published by Verso and Philosophical Papers, published by Cambridge University Press.