The Discourses of Science

By: Marcello Pera, Clarissa Botsford (Translator)

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Hardcover | 1 December 1994 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
257 Pages

Edition Type
Revised

Dimensions(cm)
23.69 x 16.84 x 2.07

Hardcover

$169.75

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In this much anticipated revision and translation of "Scienza e Retorica," Marcello Pera argues that rhetoric is central to the making of scientific knowledge.
Pera begins with an attack of what he calls the "Cartesian syndrome"--the fixation on method common to both defenders of traditional philosophy of science and its detractors. He argues that in assuming the primacy of methodological rules, both sides get it wrong. Scientific knowledge is neither the simple mirror of nature nor a cultural construct imposed by contingent interests, thus we must replace the idea of scientific method with that of scientific rhetoric.
Pera proposes a new dialectics of science to overcome the tension between normative and descriptive philosophies of science by focusing on the rhetoric in the proposition, defense, and argumentation of theories. Examining the uses of rhetoric in debates drawn from Galileo's "Dialogues," Darwin's "Origins," and the Big Bang-Steady State controversy in cosmology, Pera shows how the conduct of science involves not just nature and the inquiring mind, but nature, the inquiring mind, and a questioning community which, through the process of attack, defense, and dispute, determines what is science. Rhetoric, then, is an essential element in the constitution of science as the practice of persuasive argumentation through which results gain acceptance.

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Science Science in General Impact of Science & Technology on Society Philosophy Philosophy of Science

Preface
Introduction: The Cartesian Syndrome
The Paradox of Scientific Method
From Method to Rhetoric
The Rhetoric of Science
Scientific Dialectics
The Dialectical Model of Science
Epistemology and Rhetorical Strategies
Rhetoric and Scientific Progress
Notes
References
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

The Discourses of Science

At a Glance

Hardcover

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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