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Paradigms and Fairy Tales : An Introduction to the Science of Meanings
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 2, 2024
I love the style and voice of this volume. I’m glad I read it after the first two years of my doctorate. It would have been difficult to understand if I had read it before, but at this moment, it’s consolidating the last two years of instruction into a more holistic understanding of theoretical construction and the design of studies. I enjoy books like this that provide the birds-eye view of a theoretical debate/conversation that spans the last 150 years. And I love that she presents it as a mad hatter tea party. Recommend for graduate students and theorists who have finished course work.
June 19, 2022
I read the 1975 edition. Once in the late 1980s and re read it in 2019.
It is an amazing, wonderfully thought provoking look at science, especially social science. The imagery and connections made are great. It is hard work to read for someone like me who is not familiar with Social Science in any detail, but it is still an exhilerating read and raises many practical issues, often with practical suggestions. The issues around the practicalities of social science data collection in 1975 are radically different now. I would love to see someone revisit this book and provide an update taking account of the amazing data collection facilities available now. The biases of the way data is collected these days would require some detailed treatment and there are many important related issues that were minor issues back in 1975, for example privacy and the real-time selling of online behaviour.
However, though the book is dated, it's basic thrust is still incredibly relevant today.
It talks about 4 types of Truth, which I think of as: Sincerity, Experimental, Logical, Faith. This acronym, SELF is more memorable than her Truth1,Truth2,Truth3 and Truth4 labels. However, I feel there is another important truth missing, which is usually ignored in Science, I could tentatively call it Authenticity - being true to oneself. It has similarities to Sincerity, but has a different focus which is important in medical and psychological scientific research. I have been delighted to find I can recall these 5 types of Truth with the Acronym F.A.L.S.E.! That was a pleasant surprise. Looking at Truth in Science, like this is very illuminating. This focus is especially important for Social Science, but it is very relevant to other sciences and pseudo sciences (e.g. Economics) as well.
I have rated it 4 because it is a hard read and because it is dated. I have some disagreements with aspects of the book, but overall it is a valuable book to read.
It is an amazing, wonderfully thought provoking look at science, especially social science. The imagery and connections made are great. It is hard work to read for someone like me who is not familiar with Social Science in any detail, but it is still an exhilerating read and raises many practical issues, often with practical suggestions. The issues around the practicalities of social science data collection in 1975 are radically different now. I would love to see someone revisit this book and provide an update taking account of the amazing data collection facilities available now. The biases of the way data is collected these days would require some detailed treatment and there are many important related issues that were minor issues back in 1975, for example privacy and the real-time selling of online behaviour.
However, though the book is dated, it's basic thrust is still incredibly relevant today.
It talks about 4 types of Truth, which I think of as: Sincerity, Experimental, Logical, Faith. This acronym, SELF is more memorable than her Truth1,Truth2,Truth3 and Truth4 labels. However, I feel there is another important truth missing, which is usually ignored in Science, I could tentatively call it Authenticity - being true to oneself. It has similarities to Sincerity, but has a different focus which is important in medical and psychological scientific research. I have been delighted to find I can recall these 5 types of Truth with the Acronym F.A.L.S.E.! That was a pleasant surprise. Looking at Truth in Science, like this is very illuminating. This focus is especially important for Social Science, but it is very relevant to other sciences and pseudo sciences (e.g. Economics) as well.
I have rated it 4 because it is a hard read and because it is dated. I have some disagreements with aspects of the book, but overall it is a valuable book to read.
March 1, 2010
epistemology is the philosophy of knowledge and understanding. This book explains how the two most important 20th century epistemologists' seemingly opposing views can be reconciled in an original methodology of knowledge acquisition. Thomas Kuhn's relativism is opposed to and then synthesised with Karl Popper's falsificationism in a beautifully illustrated two volume study based on Alice in Wonderland. It was used as a university text book in the UK for nearly forty years.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews