Relativism in the Philosophy of Science

by Martin Kusch

'Relativism versus absolutism' is one of the fundamental oppositions that have dominated reflections about science for much of its (modern) history. Often these reflections have been inseparable from wider social-political concerns regarding the position of science in society. Where does this debate stand in the philosophy and sociology of science today? And how does the 'relativism question' relate to current concerns with 'post truth' politics? In Relativism in the Philosophy of Science, Martin Kusch examines some of the most influential relativist proposals of the last fifty years, and the controversies they have triggered. He argues that defensible forms of relativism all deny that any sense can be made of a scientific result being absolutely true or justified, and that they all reject 'anything goes' – that is the thought that all scientific results are epistemically on a par. Kusch concludes by distinguishing between defensible forms of relativism and post-truth thinking.

88 pages, Paperback

Published January 28, 2021

Reviews

[Allan Olley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short (about 70 page) introduction to the topic of relativism in the philosophy of science pitching it at an introductory level. The book first defines epistemological relativism and reviews arguments by Paul Boghossian against relativism as a standard for understanding what is at stake. The work then considers some popular relativist positions that have emerged in philosophy of science specifically Thomas Kuhn's accounts of change and revolution in science, Paul Feyerband's anarchist account of science and Bas van Fraassen's constructive empiricism and epistemic volunteerism, and some reference to later ideas. The book also considers and evaluates the prospects for the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge as a viable form of relativism. The book ends by considering the claims that academic relativism have eroded public trust in science and objective knowledge and finds them ill founded.

The account is a nice introduction to the subject and while clearly plumping a bit for one side of the debate still offers a pretty clear description of the debate. The book's message that in fact relativism no less than absolutism makes strong restrictions on what sorts of knowledge claims and criticisms of expertise and authority one can make seems worth repeating.

I read the ebook version of this book as a static pdf, it had no defects I noticed.