Science and Culture

Author: Joseph Agassi (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: This book is a new work by the renowned contemporary philosopher Joseph Agassi—formerly a graduate student and assistant to Karl Popper—released in 2003. Most chapters are compiled from papers published between 1969 and 1999, reflecting the author's main ideas during his academic peak. Agassi comprehensively explores the relationship between science and culture through five crucial themes in contemporary philosophy: autonomy, tolerance, rationality, philosophy, and responsibility. His fundamental argument is that science is not an isolated island in human culture but an integral part of it. He firmly opposes both scientism and relativism, as both inevitably lead to intolerance and irrationalism. Agassi advocates for a thoughtful pluralistic critical rationalism, focusing on science and human welfare, and calls for promoting global political movements to genuinely take responsibility for the "spaceship Earth." The book is distinctly contemporary, widely researched, and well-documented; it is substantial and worth careful reading.