Publisher's Synopsis
This book offers a broad-based critical survey of recent anti-realist arguments in the philosophy of science, cultural theory, hermeneutics, the sociology of knowledge and the interpretation of quantum-mechanics. Norris' contribution will be welcome for its vigorous critique of these ideas and also, more constructively, for presenting strong counter-arguments in support of the realist case. This book will be widely discussed for its cogent defence of critical realism in the natural and human sciences. It will also provoke debate through its revisionist reading of Derrida, its engagement with postmodernist theory, and not least its detailed reconstruction of crucial episodes in the recent history of Anglo-American and continental philosophy.
