The Advancement of Science: Science Without Legend, Objectivity Without Illusions

Setting a new agenda for the philosophy of science and for other "science studies" disciplines, in this book the well-known philosopher Philip Kitcher offers an innovative and detailed picture of the advancement of science. During the last three decades, reflections on the growth of scientific knowledge have inspired historians, sociologists, and some philosophers to contend that scientific objectivity is a myth. In this book, Kitcher attempts to resurrect the notions of objectivity and progress in science by identifying both the limitations of idealized treatments of growth of knowledge and the overreactions to philosophical idealizations. Recognizing that science is done not by logically omniscient subjects working in isolation, but by people with a variety of personal and social interests who cooperate and compete with one another, he argues that, nonetheless, we may conceive the growth of science as a process in which both our vision of nature and our ways of learning more about nature improve. Undertaking a novel synthesis that preserves the very conceptions of objectivity and progress in epistemology and philosophy of science, this book accommodates and examines the insights of historians and sociologists of science who have criticized traditional philosophy of science. Pointing to a new way of discussing science, The Advancement of Science is of key interest to philosophers of science, historians of science, sociologists of science, and reflective scientists.