Varieties of Realism: A Rationale for the Natural Sciences

Harre, Rom

ISBN 10: 0631125922 / ISBN 13: 9780631125921

Published by Blackwell Pub, 1986

About this Item

Rom Harré?s substantial examination of scientific realism and the philosophical foundations of the natural sciences. Harré considers how scientific knowledge refers to an independently existing world while remaining rooted in observation, experimentation, language, and established scientific practice. Topics include realism and anti-realism, reference, natural kinds, theoretical entities, common-sense experience, causation, possibility, and the metaphysical assumptions underlying scientific inquiry.

First published by Basil Blackwell in 1986. Harré was a prominent philosopher of science and psychology whose work influenced later discussions of scientific and critical realism. This volume remains a serious and useful contribution to the literature of philosophy of science, particularly for readers interested in metaphysics, epistemology, scientific explanation, and the relationship between theory and experience. Bibliographic records confirm the 1986 Blackwell hardcover edition as viii, 375 pages.

Condition: Near Fine/ Good+. Hardcover is firm and square with light general shelf wear and mild dusting or toning along the upper page edge. Binding appears sound. Interior pages examined are clean, with no ownership marks or annotations visible in the photographed portions. The glossy dust jacket remains complete and visually attractive but shows noticeable surface rubbing and scratching, edge creasing, small chips and short tears around the spine head and upper edge, and additional wear at the corners and lower rear edge. A presentable first-edition copy in its original jacket.

An appealing academic hardcover for collections devoted to philosophy of science, scientific realism, metaphysics, epistemology, or twentieth-century analytic philosophy. The original dust jacket?with its striking abstract design?adds considerably to the copy?s shelf presence, though this title is scholarly rather than genuinely scarce.

The book will be carefully wrapped and shipped in a sturdy box to protect both the volume and dust jacket. Orders are normally shipped promptly, and returns are accepted in accordance with AbeBooks? return policies.
SCI 2a.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1785431481245

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Varieties of Realism: A Rationale for the Natural Sciences
• Publisher: Blackwell Pub
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0631125922
• ISBN 13: 9780631125921
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good
• Dimensions: 6.34W x 9.33H x 1.26D inches 6.34 inches width by 9.33 inches height by 1.26 inches depth
• Weight: 1.654 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Science
  • Philosophy

About this title

Synopsis

This comprehensive account of the relativist debate is designed for students as an instructive introduction to the topic, while for professionals it should be a useful reference to the continuing discussion. The latest round in the age-old debate between relativists and their opponents has continued unresolved for the last 20 years. Relativism has increasingly become the unconscious theoretical underpinning for a host of theories of ideologies, and is beginning to be treated as a simplistic belief that truth is grounded in the value systems of a culture. This volume casts relativism as a sincere attempt to resolve sceptical conflicts beyond any reasonable doubt, and seeks to map the current landscape of arguments for the varieties of relativism and opposing varieties of absolutism by clarifying each of the main fields of the relativist/absolutist debate. It presents the whole subject as a complex pattern of inconclusive controversies, to be made sense of only by paying attention to the question of which species of absolutism each variety of relativism opposes.