2025.02.13 : View this Review Online | View Recent NDPR Reviews
Alexander Bird, Knowing Science, Oxford University Press, 2022, 282pp., $105.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780199606658.
Reviewed by Jennifer Jhun, Duke University
Alexander Bird argues (amongst other things) for two overarching theses: that (1) knowledge acquisition is the goal of science, and that (2) empiricism should be rejected. He contrasts the position that he advocates for—that knowledge is the aim of science—with other positions that take it to be truth, or understanding, or problem-solving power, or the like. And by empiricism, he specifically means empiricism that is grounded in sense-perception.
The prose is clean, and structurally the book is easy to follow throughout. This reader found herself mentally dividing the content of the book into two sections. The first portion, chapters 1 through 6, sets down the foundations for the answers to these two big questions. Bird argues that there is a single main function to science—conceived…
Read the full article which is published on Notre Dame's Philosophical Reviews (external link)
