- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Icon Books Ltd (2 Mar 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1840467223
- ISBN-13: 978-1840467222
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 612,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Jenny Uglow
'This is the very book I’ve been needing to read for ages, to get things straight in my mind!’
TLS
'Nuanced and informed analysis’
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I recently considered starting an MSc in Philosophy of Science and decided to read something simple to gain some idea about the subject. I chose this book because the compulsory module for this MSc involves reading a lot about Kuhn. I did have some of Kuhn's books, but decided on something much simpler that I could easily read in a week.
The book is hard-going in places because for the layman, there are many unfamiliar terms used. Fortunately there is a glossary towards the end of the book which helps.
This book gave me an insight into the work of Kuhn and convinced me that the philosophy of Science being discussed should be called Sociology of Science. This was enough to persuade me that I didn't really want to put the time, money and effort into studying for the stated MSc.
It is fitting that Steve Fuller is a sociologist, as much of the content is really about the sociology of Science.
The book is hard-going in places because for the layman, there are many unfamiliar terms used. Fortunately there is a glossary towards the end of the book which helps.
This book gave me an insight into the work of Kuhn and convinced me that the philosophy of Science being discussed should be called Sociology of Science. This was enough to persuade me that I didn't really want to put the time, money and effort into studying for the stated MSc.
It is fitting that Steve Fuller is a sociologist, as much of the content is really about the sociology of Science.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The TLS had a review of this book a couple of weeks ago and managed to do the book justice. Basically Popperians will love the book at two levels. Not only does it defend Popper against Kuhn, but it also falsifies one’s – or at least my! -- preconception of what the Kuhn-Popper debate was really about.
Make no mistake about it. ‘Kuhn vs Popper’ is not for the intellectually faint-hearted but its message is pretty clear, if not entirely welcomed by people who have come to believe that Kuhn is the last word on the nature of science. In any case, as Fuller points out, this debate really had very little influence on practicing scientists – but it influenced a lot of people who take science seriously as some basis for authority in society. What Fuller most regrets about Kuhn’s victory is that it has managed to allow a pretty conservative, heads-down approach to science to pass itself off as radical, just because Kuhn used a lot of radical-sounding words like ‘revolution’.
The most interesting part of this book is the way Fuller gets you to think about the politics both in and around science as it’s done today. He argues that BOTH Kuhn and Popper would condemn the sort of money-hungry, status-seeking, power-grabbing activities all too frequently associated with science today. However, Popper was more openly critical of these tendencies, whereas Kuhn hid behind trendy but vague language that still manages to seduce some people.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Another great book by Steve Fuller, epistemological debate at the highest level. Great for background reading or pure enjoyment, but if you're looking for the bare bones of Kuhn and Popper's arguments, don't by this book. It will give you some of them but you'll have to read the whole book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Useful from a sociological perspective - if not scientific
Kuhn wrote an interesting book about the history of science, and was quickly misinterpreted in terms of writing philosophy of science in the style of Popper. Read more
Published 22 months ago by A reader
Not for the lay person
I found this book difficult and verbose. It may well be an excellent examination of the issues, but even armed with my degree in psychology, some knowledge of the subjects raised,... Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2008 by D. M. Powell
Suggestive but biased
This is a richly suggestive study that despite its faults deserves attention. The central thesis that science is out of kilter is passionately argued and grounded in a neat... Read more
Published on 24 April 2006 by mark tull
Great book! Read before judging it
I'm writing this review not because the book needs more sales, since this may be the bestselling of Fuller's books. Read more
Published on 21 Mar 2006 by Hans Castorp
Nihilism
Steve Fuller characterizes excellently the cardinal difference between Kuhn's and Popper's concept of science and research, as well as their vision on life as a... Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2005 by Luc REYNAERT
A sociological paradigm in crisis
This book tells me, anyhow, that the dreadful paradigm of sociology is in total (and seemingly permanent) crisis. As Hume would say: "to the flames". Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2005 by Mr. M. A. Speedy
a "paradigm" case of why no one listens to academics?
As I was one of those wasters who read a bit of philosophy many years back, the title of this book caught my eye. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2003 by O. Buxton
Packs a punch
This is an abridged and updated version of the big book Fuller did on Kuhn a couple of years ago. Kuhn is accused of no less than intellectual irresponsibility for failing to... Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2003 by Morgan Dorrell
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