2min chapter

New Books in the History of Science cover image

Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America

New Books in the History of Science

CHAPTER

Is There a Craving for Generality?

I was thinking about the philosopher, Vickenstein, in some of his notebooks he talks about the craving for generality that we have. I wanted to talk to you more about this kind of generalities and abstractions. In our debates, massive abstraction still abound as commentators invoke the usual broad category - science, scientism, rationalism,. The enlightenment, the humanities, humanism, religion, faith, the rationality, the West modernity. Yet such large scale abstractions have proven remarkably unhelpful in the controversies of our day.

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