Understanding Perspectivism: Scientific Challenges and Methodological Prospects

by Michela Massimi (Editor)

This edited collection is the first of its kind to explore the view called perspectivism in philosophy of science. The book brings together an array of essays that reflect on the methodological promises and scientific challenges of perspectivism in a variety of fields such as physics, biology, cognitive neuroscience, and cancer research, just as a few examples. What are the advantages of using a plurality of perspectives in a given scientific field and for interdisciplinary research? Can different perspectives be integrated? What is the relation between perspectivism, pluralism, and pragmatism? These ten new essays by top scholars in the field offer a polyphonic journey towards understanding the view called ‘perspectivism’ and its relevance to science.

Genres: Philosophy

210 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 3, 2019

Reviews

[Lucas G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't exactly the thrilling read that I was looking for when I started it, but that's sometimes what you get when you open up an academic philosophy book. With that said, I did enjoy it despite the slow chapters here and there. I'm struggling, however, to determine if the book accomplishes what it's title promises. Each chapter is an essay written by a different philosopher, and no contributor is shy about bringing his or her own twist on what perspectivism really is. Nevertheless, I'll try to summarize as best I can.

Perspectivism in the context of this book is the school of thought in the philosophy of science that, broadly speaking, considers the perspective of the scientist to be an essential part of scientific models. To put it another way, a scientific model is only "true" insofar as truth is limited to the perspective being assumed by the model. At first glance, this seems to be a clearly antirealist approach to understanding science . But many of the contributors disagree. In fact, most essays in this book contain proposed approaches to perspectivism that attempt to salvage some semblance of realism. Some appear more successful than others.

Many essays are highly technical as the contributors use detailed examples of how competing models are currently at play in fields such as physics, neuroscience, and even cancer research. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any reader has a broad enough background to fully appreciate the details in every discussion, which is probably what contributes to certain essays being more of a chore to get through than others.

Overall, this is only a book you'll want to read if you're really interested in understanding nuanced approaches to the realism/antirealism debate in the philosophy of science. In fact, I probably wouldn't have read it if it wasn't available for free on Kindle since that isn't a primary area of interest for me. But in the end I'm still glad I did since it was a thought-provoking read.

[Alireza Hejazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores perspectivism in the philosophy of science. Perspectivism is a belief maintaining that all human knowledge must be viewed via a certain lens or vantage point. As an epistemological principle, it states that perception and knowledge of anything are always connected to the interpretative viewpoints of people who see it. The book contains a collection of articles that focus on the methodological potential and scientific problems of perspectivism in a range of domains, including physics, biology, and cognitive neuroscience. It investigates the benefits of employing a variety of views in a specific scientific topic and interdisciplinary study. It provides a kaleidoscopic discourse toward understanding perspectivism and its importance to science by studying its relationship to pragmatism, pluralism, and realism. This book may be useful to students and educators of the philosophy of science in their studies and research.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of 10 philosophical papers had two significant aspects that made it enjoyable for me to read. First, the many philosophical concepts involved in the discussion produced an immersive mental state. Second, the deep penetration into multiple scientific specialties in order to describe various models and perspectives, how they came to be, what purpose they served, and whether and how they might produce more scientific insight together rather than separately. Several authors made an interesting distinction between knowledge and understanding. Much attention was focused on epistemic an ontological features of the various perspectives. The concrete and broad range examples helped me refine my understanding of the philosophical concepts.

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid book that explores the relationships between perspectivism and pragmatism, perspectivism and pluralism, and perspectivism and realism. It is an edited collection, and the chapters do jar a bit. Also, with all the attention on modelling, examples would have been useful.

Particularly noting the volatile debates between many of the science disciplines and Indigenous Studies, some strong examples and discussion would have benefited the book. It seemed odd reading about perspectivism and not probing and exploring the research and researchers from Indigenous Studies. We are at a point where postcolonialism cannot be 'parked' in a discussion of the methodologies, ontologies and epistemologies of science.