What is it about?
Scientists tend to assume that the basic intellectual aim of science is truth. Actually, science is obliged to assume that the truth is explanatory in some way; the aim is explanatory truth. And this is a special case of the more general aim of valuable truth. This, in turn, is sought so that it may be used by people, ideally to enrich human life. There are problematic metaphysical, value and political assumptions inherent in the aims of science, which need to be made explicit within science so that they can be critically assessed and, we may hope, improved.
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Why is it important?
We urgently need a more intellectually honest kind of science - one that is more honest about aims - both for the sake of science itself, and for the sake of humanity.
Perspectives
I hope, one day, the argument of this book will be generally recognized as being of fundamental importance in developing a kind of science that serves the best interests of humanity in the best possible way.
Nicholas Maxwell
University College London
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This page is a summary of: Is Science Neurotic?, January 2004, World Scientific Pub Co Pte Lt,
DOI: 10.1142/9781860945625.
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