Farewell to Reason

This new book by Paul Feyerbrand offers a vigorous challenge to the scientific rationalism the underlies Western ideals of 'progress' and 'development', whose damaging sociological and ecological consequences are now widely recognized. For all their variety of theme and occasion, the essays in Farewell to Reason share a consistent philosophical purpose. Whether discussing Greek art and thought, vindicating the Church's battle with Galileo, exploring the development of quantum physics or exposing the dogmatism of Karl Popper, Feyerbend defends a relativist and historical notion of the sciences. The appeal to reason, he insists, is empty, and must be replaced by a notion of science that subordinates it to the needs of citizens and communities. Provocative, polemical and rigorously argued, Farewell to Reason will infuriate Feyerbend's critics and delight his many admirers.