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Heidegger's Philosophy of Science (Perspectives in Continental Philosophy)

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This book attempts to bring a discussion of Heidegger's philosophy to bear on current discussions in analytic philosophy. Heidegger's thoughts are contrasted with Lakatos, Kuhn and others showing many of the similarities (and differences) there are between them. Many of the issues found in a basic philosophy of science text are also found here, such as: Underdetermination (basically the idea that the truth of no one theory can be determined by the data or by experiment), realism and antirealism, the nature of theories etc. -- what is emphasized most is the metaphysical and epistemological issues present in modern science. Of course, not all problems in the philosophy of science are found in Heidegger, but enough, apparently, to consider him a philosopher of science.

The book also has a lot to say about our current modern age of scientific-technological ways of 'revealing' -- the discussion revolves around the modern ages concern with beings; making void all internal significance. The book is very interesting and has a lot more to it than the bits I've mentioned. The potential reader of this book might want to know that Greek expressions are used fairly frequently.

An excellent clarification of a murky and easily misunderstood topic in Heidegger's oeuvre. Glazebrook traces the many changes in Heidegger's attitude toward science from his early excitement to his later diagnosis of its nihilism. She makes a convincing argument that, far from being on the fringe of his philosophy, Heidegger spent six decades with science in the forefront of his thoughts, seeing it as the final stage of Greek metaphysics and the domniant influence on modernity. But, most importantly, Glazebrook makes it clear that Heidegger defines ontology at every stage of his rethinking in relation to his evolving understanding of the meaning and nature of science. She makes a strong case that since Heidegger's attitude toward science is determinitive for his ontology, they must be understood together. I see this as a must read for anyone seriously interested in Heidegger.