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Title: Against Relativism: Philosophy of Science, Deconstruction, and Critical Theory
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Manufacturer: Wiley-Blackwell
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| Against Relativism: Philosophy of Science, Deconstruction, and Critical Theory by Wiley-Blackwell Deconstructionist deconstruction | | Christopher Norris, once called "a prominent second rung deconstructionist..." by Roger Kimball, is nevertheless, among writers allied to the postmodern movement, more critical than most. This book is not an easy read for the author has the habit of alluding to rather than explaining the views he argues for and against. Norris has mastered a large corpus of postmodern work, genuinely striving to find something of value in it. He detects traces of critical analytical thought behind the smoke screens of obscurantism in the writings of Derrida, for example, and balances his arguments by emphasizing these. He argues that postmodern writers have encountered the same philosophical problems grappled by philosophers throughout history; it is the method, language and conclusions of postmodernists which set them apart; which, one is forced to conclude, does not leave much of value. Unfortunately Professor Norris has absorbed a great deal of the language-salad jargon of postmodernism and generously attached to that terminology respectable philosophical notions which might not be shared by many. He uses phrases such as "linguistic tropes" and "genealogies of ideas" along side "synthetic/analytic distinction" and "empirical methodology", as if they were expressions of equally valid philosophical notions. The term "suasive" is used when "persuasive" would have done just fine. This kind of thing, and the book is peppered with it, makes reading "Against Relativism" heavy going. It is worth the effort, however, for the encompassing analysis Christopher Norris provides and for the insights it gives into the shreds of meaning that can be wrung from some postmodern work. | | Against Relativism: Philosophy of Science, Deconstruction, and Critical Theory by Wiley-Blackwell Product Description | | This book offers a vigorous and constructive challenge to relativism by examining a wide range of anti-realist theories, and in response offering a variety of arguments amounting to a strong defence of critical realism in the natural and social sciences. |
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