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. Offering a detailed picture of the advancement of science, he sets a new agenda for the philosophy of science and for other "science studies" disciplines.

Philip KitcherProfessor of Philosophy, Columbia University

"Philip Kitcher, in his excellent new book, provides something that has not been available before: a careful, detailed and systematic attempt to show that what's wrong with traditional accounts of science can be conceded...without thereby sacrificing at any rate the core claims of scientific rationalists....Few philosophers will fail to agree that this book constitutes a significant step forward in the discipline"--Times Higher Education Supplement |k No