Power and Invention: Situating Science (Theory Out Of Bounds) [Paperback]

Isabelle Stengers (Author)

Book Description

Series: Theory Out Of Bounds | Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Using the law of thermodynamics, one of today's most penetrating and celebrated thinkers sets out to explain the consequences of nonlinear dynamics (or chaos theory) for philosophy and science. Concerned with the interplay between science, society, and power, Isabelle Stengers offers a unique perspective on the power of scientific theories to modify society, and vice versa. 9 diagrams .

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816625174
• ISBN-13: 978-0816625178
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, April 20, 2000

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This review is from: Power and Invention: Situating Science (Theory Out Of Bounds) (Paperback)

Stengers is best known for her collaborations with the physicist Ilya Prigogine, these dense, difficult, and topic-specific works. The collected essays here are indicative of a broad range of topics that will interested non-specialists.

Stengers's reflections on science situate her between Kuhn and Deleuze, a strange but potent mixture. Add to this, the work of Barbara McClintock as an exemplar of the scientist, Stengers demonstrates her status as the most insightful and relevent thinker of science today, perhaps the most philosophical of them all. I say 'philosophical' because Stengers interest always rises above the issues raging in philosophy of science, history of science and the sociology of science. To be philosophical means to extend the implications beyond the technical and theoretical domains, to pose the questions in terms of what Stengers calls the 'ethicophilosophical order.' It is not to conflate politics and science, but rather, to suspend judgment, to remain within the tension, to understand and to stretch the possibility of imagination.

To borrow a metaphor from Feyerabend: how can a gang of thieves ever be responsible? Stengers does not judge science on moral grounds. Contrary to Feyerabend's mistrust of science, stengers regards science as an inherently social and passionate activity. Key terms for her are 'jouissance' and 'mutual arousal' between parties. Responsibility in science, ethics in science, isn't to judge it from the outside, but to tease the philosophical implications of the activities in science.

In all, these sample essays will demonstrate the originality of Stenger's work. Furthermore, they are persuasive reminders of why science still matters to us; why we are still 'interested' in science.